Democratic Party Appoints Kim Won-yi as Strategic Planning Chair and Kang Wiwon as Chief of Political Affairs to Party Leader

Former Lawmaker Choi Jaeseong Appointed as Head of Special Advisors to the Party Leader

Minseok Kim, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has announced additional appointments for top-level party positions.

On August 21, following a Supreme Council meeting held in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, chief party spokesperson Park Sungjoon told reporters that two-term lawmaker Kim Wonyi has been appointed as Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, Kang Wiwon, former Vice Governor for Economic Affairs of South Jeolla Province, has been named Chief of Policy Coordination for the party leader, and former four-term lawmaker Choi Jaeseong has been appointed as Head of the Special Advisory Group to the party leader.

Yonhap News Agency

Lawmaker Kim reportedly served as the general manager of Kim’s campaign during the party leadership primary for this convention.

Former Vice Governor Kang is considered pro-Lee Jae-myung and has served as schedule chief for then-presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung during the 20th presidential election, policy advisor to party leader Lee, and standing representative of the Democratic National Innovation Council.

The position of Senior Deputy Secretary-General will be filled by two-term lawmaker Moon Jinseok. In addition, Kim has appointed, after Supreme Council deliberation, Taejun Ahn as Deputy Secretary-General for Organization, Lee Jeongheon as Deputy Secretary-General for Digital Strategy, Jang Cheolmin as Chair of the Public Communication Committee, and Yang Bunam as Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee. Yoon Jonggoon has been selected as the General Director of the Integrated Situation Room for the general election victory.

Lawmaker Min Byungdeok (economy) and Lawmaker Heo Young (social affairs) have been appointed as Senior Vice Chairs of the party's Policy Committee. Permanent Vice Chairs of the Policy Committee will be lawmakers Heo Seongmu and Park Heeseung.

Additionally, lawmaker Kang Deukgu has been appointed as head of the Democratic Institute’s Innovation Task Force (TF), and for the 2026 Gangneung ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) World Congress Support TF, lawmaker Kim Wooyoung and President Lee Dontae of Lotte have been named as joint heads.

Furthermore, the Democratic Party announced that it has proposed to the party management committee the designation of the following regions as strategic areas: Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, Gangwon, North Gyeongsang, and South Gyeongsang.

The day before, party leader Kim named lawmaker Jeon Yonggi as Supreme Council member representing youth, and Kwon Mikyoung, president of the Federation of Korean Public and Social Services and Transportation Workers' Unions of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (who also serves as union head at Severance Hospital), as Supreme Council member for labor and strategic regions in Gangwon. However, Supreme Council members Choi Minhee, Han Minsu, and Lee Seongyun—who are grouped as pro-Jeong Cheongrae—did not participate in the decision process, and the appointments were approved by the remaining Supreme Council members.

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