Song Young-gil: "No Wasted Votes with Preferential Voting... Second-Choice Votes for Kim Minseok Are Aggregated"

"Even with just 10% support, Kim Minseok and Chung Cheong-rae won't reach a majority"

"Only with united support from Jeonnam-Gwangju can I make an impact anywhere"

Song Young-gil, a candidate in the Democratic Party of Korea’s August 17 national convention leadership race, stated, "With the preferential voting system, there’s no such thing as a wasted vote if you select Song Young-gil." He explained that thanks to the preferential voting system, voters do not need to worry about their votes being ineffective.

Song made these remarks while appealing for support at the 'Suncheon Citizens’ Empathy Talk' held in Suncheon, Jeonnam-Gwangju, on the same day. He further commented, "If you choose Kim Minseok as your second (preference), all the votes will be combined."

Song Young-gil, Chung Cheong-rae, and Kim Minseok (in alphabetical order) smile as they converse during the joint speech meeting of the Democratic Party of Korea presidential and supreme council members' tour primary election held at BEXCO in Busan on the 2nd. Photo by Yonhap News

He added, "Looking at the results of the Chungcheong tour primary, it's structured so that no single person can obtain a majority," and continued, "Even if Song Young-gil only gets 10%, no one would reach a majority." He went on to rhetorically ask, “If it's unlikely to work anyway, why did Song Young-gil run?” and speculated that other candidates may have come forward as third candidates to attack Kim Minseok collectively with Chung Cheong-rae. Song stated, "Because Song Young-gil is running, the Democratic Party’s national convention is able to maintain some balance and stability." He also added, "While there is constant criticism among the candidates, isn't Song Young-gil the one actually presenting policies and vision?"

Earlier, according to the Democratic Party’s tour primary results on the 1st and 2nd, during the Chungcheong area tour primary (1st), candidate Kim Minseok led with 45.06% of the vote, just ahead of Chung Cheong-rae with 44.61%. However, in the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (BUK) tour primary on the 2nd, Chung Cheong-rae came out ahead with 46.65%, surpassing Kim Minseok’s 43.85%. When the total vote percentages are combined, Chung Cheong-rae leads with 45.51%, ahead of Kim Minseok with 44.52% by a margin of 0.99 percentage points. Song Young-gil’s cumulative vote percentage is 9.97%. Since there is no candidate with a majority, the results of the second-preference votes from the third-place candidate’s supporters—whose votes are redistributed to the first- and second-place finishers—are drawing attention.

Song, who is originally from Goheung in Jeonnam-Gwangju, said, "People in Jeonnam-Gwangju really need to unite their support for Song Young-gil. Otherwise, not only will it impact this national convention, but it could make it impossible for me to pursue any future endeavors." He added, "If I am placed last here, how could I continue in politics with any influence elsewhere going forward?"

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