DPK to Introduce Youth Supreme Council Member System at Convention...Party Leader to Be Selected by Preferential Voting System

Detailed Plans to Be Drafted by the Youth and Future Subcommittee

The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to introduce a Youth Supreme Council member system at the National Party Members Convention scheduled for August 17.

The Pre-committee for the National Party Members Convention (Pre-committee) announced this decision after holding a general meeting at the National Assembly on July 7. Assemblywoman Lee Yeonhee, spokesperson for the Pre-committee, met with reporters after the meeting and said, "There was a variety of discussion on whether to have a separate quota for the Youth Supreme Council member system or to allocate it as an appointed position," adding that this decision was made.

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Pae Jae-man = Lee Hakyoung, Chair of the Pre-committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the 3rd meeting of the National Party Members Convention Preparation Committee held at the National Assembly on July 7, 2026.

Regarding the introduction of the system, the Youth and Future Subcommittee within the Pre-committee will draft a detailed plan and submit it for approval on July 9.

Traditionally, the Democratic Party of Korea defined "youth" as those aged 45 or under. However, with the introduction of the Youth Supreme Council member system, there was an opinion that the age limit should be lowered to 39 or under to increase the proportion of Millennials & Gen Z representatives.

For the election of the party leader, the party has decided to introduce a preferential voting system.

The Democratic Party of Korea will also introduce a "preferential voting system" for the leadership election, in which voters can rank multiple candidates in order of preference. Under this system, party members will be able to select their first, second, and third choices. If no candidate receives a majority in the first-choice votes, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated and the next-preference votes are redistributed to the remaining candidates. This allows a majority winner to be determined on the spot without the need for an additional round of voting.

Additionally, Assemblywoman Lee said, "We also discussed, but did not decide on, the weighted ratio for strategic region delegates and rights-holding party members," adding, "There was also a discussion about designating regions that have suffered consecutive defeats in the last two elections as strategic regions."

She stated that five metropolitan areas in the Yeongnam region, as well as Gangwon Province and a total of six regions, are being considered as strategic regions. She added, "It was decided to grant additional points uniformly to vulnerable regions, and we discussed applying a principle to minimize the possibility of vote reversal between regions, ensuring that the weighting does not exceed double by metropolitan area."

This primary will take place over three weeks as a traveling primary. The results of the Saturday votes will not be released immediately; instead, they will be announced together with the results of the Sunday vote following the weekend's primaries.

For the preliminary primary, both central committee members and party members will vote online. For the 30% of the vote allocated to public opinion polling, a random digit dialing (RDD) method will be used to survey supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea and unaffiliated voters.

Meanwhile, at the meeting, Lee Hakyoung, Chair of the Pre-committee, said in his opening remarks, "Regarding excessive slander that undermines party unity, including the use of derogatory terms toward each other, the party will take strong measures," adding, "We aim to make the convention a venue for unity and vision."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.