The Democratic Party discussed the primary rules ahead of the presidential election on June 3 but did not reach a conclusion, and decided to discuss it again on the morning of the 11th.
The Democratic Party's Special Rule Preparation Committee held a meeting from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the 10th to set the rules for selecting the presidential candidate, but did not reach a final conclusion.
Chairperson Lee Chun-seok met with reporters after the meeting and noted, "We discussed what the best primary rules are for the Democratic Party to win the presidential election," adding that they comprehensively discussed the positions of the expected candidates as well as a request from party members to establish the principle of party member sovereignty. However, the chairperson added, "We did not reach a conclusion, so we decided to hold another meeting at 10 a.m. tomorrow."
The Democratic Party is reportedly discussing the 'national primary' method, where ordinary citizens participate in the primary voting as voters, and the 'national participatory primary' method, which selects candidates through a 50% ordinary citizen survey and a 50% rights party member vote.
The chairperson stated regarding this, "Both sides have strengths and weaknesses," and added, "Since we cannot absolutely agree on which side is correct, we are largely concerned about what a suitable point of harmony would be, and we are discussing that aspect."
Committee member Hwang Myung-sun explained about the national participatory primary method, saying, "The biggest concern is about reverse selection," and noted, "We deeply discussed how to rationally address the supplementary aspects of member sovereignty."
The national primary is a method that the Democratic Party adopted during the previous 19th and 20th presidential elections, granting automatic voting rights to national delegates and rights party members, along with citizens and general party members who applied to participate in the election, allowing one vote per person. In contrast, the national participatory primary determines the presidential candidate with no more than 50% of rights party member voting and more than 50% from public opinion surveys.