Ruling Party's Go Min-jung Announces Candidacy for Party Leader: "Will Inherit Moon Administration's Achievements and Support Lee Administration's Success"

Building a Young and United Democratic Party
"We Must Move Beyond Labeling and Derogatory Language to Seek Solutions"

Go Min-jung, a key member of the pro-Moon Jae-in faction within the Democratic Party of Korea, announced her candidacy for the party leadership election at the party convention on July 8. She pledged to take the lead in building a Democratic Party that inherits the achievements of the Moon Jae-in administration, which she said had been undermined by the Yoon Suk-yeol government, and to help ensure the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration.

At a press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Hall that day, Assemblywoman Go stated, “I will illuminate the future of the youth and protect the daily lives of the people by leading the way toward a ‘young Democratic Party’ and a ‘united Democratic Party,’ thereby ensuring the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jae-man Bae = Go Min-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is holding a press conference to declare her candidacy for party leader at the National Assembly's communication hall on July 8, 2026.

She added, “The party convention in August must become a time to show young people and citizens asking, ‘What has politics done for us?’ what the Democratic Party’s politics truly are. Even if that path is a thorny one, if it is the way to victory for the Democratic Party and success for the Lee Jae-myung administration, I will walk it confidently.” She also emphasized, “Externally, I will listen to the voices of the youth, and internally, I will foster the path of a young Democratic Party that raises young leaders.”

She continued, “With the patience and success of Kim Dae-jung, the challenge and reform of Roh Moo-hyun, and the inclusiveness and progress of Moon Jae-in, the Democratic Party has grown. I will make sure that the Democratic Party becomes ‘everyone’s Democratic Party’ that represents the interests of the majority and improves the lives of the people one step at a time.”

Assemblywoman Go cited COVID-19 response and the commitment to peace on the Korean Peninsula as key achievements of the Moon Jae-in administration that should be carried on. As for the strengths of the Lee Jae-myung administration, she pointed to its focus on improving people’s livelihoods, quick decision-making, and strong drive.

She remarked, “In the last local elections, public sentiment delivered a stern rebuke to the Democratic Party. In particular, the 2030 generation of young people turned their backs on the party.” She added, “Standing before the public’s warning, what we need to do now is to rigorously reflect on what we lacked and seek alternatives.”

Regarding the intensifying factional conflicts and legitimacy disputes during the party convention, Assemblywoman Go stated, “We must move beyond labeling and derogatory language, recognize our counterparts, communicate, and seek solutions together.” She stressed, “Without internal unity, we cannot achieve external expansion, and without external expansion, we cannot win the hearts of the majority.”

She further warned, “If we become mired in power struggles and continue fruitless debates unrelated to the people’s lives, it will be difficult to achieve victory in the general elections or to regain power.”

She emphasized the need to address youth issues, saying, “Illuminating the future of young people and protecting the daily lives of anxious citizens must be the Democratic Party’s top priority as the ruling party.”

Assemblywoman Go advocated for the introduction of a youth quota system for party positions to make the Democratic Party a younger organization, and proposed introducing a deliberative process through a ‘Party Member Deliberation Committee’ to strengthen the responsibilities and rights of party members in line with the era of party member sovereignty. She also pledged to communicate directly with young people through a ‘Youth Future Committee’ under the party leader.

After her candidacy announcement, Assemblywoman Go met with reporters and commented on the previous day’s decision by the Party Convention Preparatory Committee to use a preferential voting system for the party leadership election. She said, “If the process is not transparent, it will inevitably be seen as unfair. We must continue to discuss and debate this. Party members need to understand why we are moving to a preferential voting system, and even as a politician, I do not think it is normal that I have to find out such information through news reports.”

As the leading candidate of the pro-Moon faction, Assemblywoman Go said she has no plans to meet with former President Moon during the convention period but would visit him after the convention is over. “What I need to do is to go beyond former President Moon,” she added.

With Assemblywoman Go’s candidacy, the Democratic Party leadership race is expected to become a four-way contest. Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and Assemblyman Song Young-gil have announced their candidacies, and former leader Jung Chung-rae is also expected to declare his candidacy later this week.

Attention is focused on how Assemblywoman Go’s entry will impact the party convention, which has become overheated due to disputes over legitimacy. However, since the Democratic Party holds a preliminary primary to narrow the candidates to three if there are more than four candidates for party leader, some observers believe that the impact of Assemblywoman Go’s candidacy may be limited.

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