Neck-and-Neck Race in Democratic Party Convention... Kim Minseok and Chung Cheongrae Alternate in Lead

Kim Minseok Wins in Chungcheong Region
Chung Cheongrae Leads in Busan·Ulsan·Gyeongnam
Cumulative Difference in Dues-paying Member Votes Less Than 1 Percentage Point

In the August 17 national convention of the Democratic Party of Korea, candidates Kim Minseok and Jeong Cheongrae, both running for party leader, alternately took first place in the primaries held in the Chungcheong region and the Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang (BUK) region. Although only the votes of dues-paying party members have been made public so far, it remains a closely contested race, with a gap of less than 1 percentage point separating the candidates.

According to the central election management committee of the Democratic Party on August 3, in the Chungcheong region primaries held on the 1st, candidate Kim led with 45.06% of the votes, narrowly beating candidate Jeong who received 44.61%. However, in the BUK region primary held on the 2nd, Jeong took the lead with 46.65%, surpassing Kim's 43.85%. When the results are simply combined, Jeong currently leads with a cumulative vote share of 45.51%, ahead of Kim’s 44.52% by a margin of 0.99 percentage points. Song Younggil has posted a cumulative vote share of 9.97%.

Song Young-gil, Jeong Cheong-rae, and Kim Minseok (in order of ballot number), candidates for the party leader, are smiling and conversing at the joint speech meeting of the Democratic Party leadership tour election held at BEXCO in Busan on the 2nd. Photo by Yonhap News

The announced results are based on the sum of regional votes by dues-paying party members. The final outcome will be determined after combining these with the results of the upcoming delegate vote and a public opinion poll (which accounts for 30%) scheduled for the 17th. The party leader election is being conducted using a preferential voting system. The national opinion poll is set to take place on August 15-16, targeting both Democratic Party supporters and the unaffiliated public.

In the Chungcheong region, candidate Jeong, who was born in Geumsan, South Chungcheong, was expected to perform well; however, Kim’s narrow victory drew attention. In the BUK region, traditionally known for strong support from pro-Roh Moo-hyun and pro-Moon Jae-in factions, Jeong led as anticipated. On the previous day, Kim expressed gratitude on social media for the result, stating, "If there's a 7% deficit, I see it as a stable final victory, so I'm thankful for the 1% deficit in Chungcheong and BUK." On the same day, Jeong posted on social media, "I do not make political engineering predictions. I trust only the people's will and the sentiment of the party members."

On this day, candidate Kim will participate in talk concerts and regional broadcast interviews in North and South Jeolla. Candidate Jeong is scheduled to have a tea meeting with Governor Woo Sangho of Gangwon Province and hold a party member talk concert in Gangwon. Candidate Song will meet citizens in areas around Gwangju, South Jeolla.

In the Supreme Council member election (cumulative voting rate), candidate Choi Minhee is in first place with 22.58%. She is followed by Park Seonwon (16.41%), Han Minsu (14.46%), Seo Mihwa (13.72%), and Kim Yong (12.41%), all within the top five—the expected range for election. Among these, three are pro-Myung candidates (Park Seonwon, Seo Mihwa, and Kim Yong), while two are pro-Cheong (Choi Minhee and Han Minsu). Notably, pro-Cheong candidates have taken both first and third place, and another pro-Cheong candidate, Lee Sungyun, is currently in sixth place with 11.34%.

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