In the Democratic Party of Korea's by-election for supreme council members, two candidates from the pro-Jung Chung-rae camp and one candidate from the pro–Lee Jae-myung camp were elected. While Representative Jung Chung-rae, who secured a majority in the party leadership, gained momentum for another term, some analysts said the pro–Lee Jae-myung camp exposed weaknesses in strategy and communication.
◇ Pro–Lee Jae-myung camp narrowed three candidates to two but only one won… "No co-victory strategy"
On the 11th, in the Democratic Party of Korea's by-election for supreme council members, Kang Deuk-gu (pro–Lee), Lee Sung-yoon (pro-Jung), and Moon Jung-bok (pro-Jung) were elected. Candidate Lee Geon-tae (pro–Lee) was eliminated with the fewest votes. In an election where the pro-Jung and pro–Lee camps fielded the same number of candidates, the pro-Jung camp won 2 to 1, with two from the pro-Jung camp and one from the pro–Lee camp elected. As a result, the pro-Jung camp (five) surpassed half within the party leadership (nine).
The political world is noting that even though the pro–Lee camp won 51% of the vote in this election, it secured only one supreme council seat. Supreme council members are chosen by combining the votes of Central Committee members and dues-paying party members. The combined vote share of pro–Lee candidates Kang Deuk-gu and Lee Geon-tae was 51.33%. The combined vote share of pro-Jung candidates Lee Sung-yoon and Moon Jung-bok was 48.67%.
Within the ruling bloc, some said, "The pro–Lee camp's election strategy was not meticulous." Initially, three figures ran as pro–Lee candidates for supreme council: Kang Deuk-gu, Lee Geon-tae, and Busan Suyeong-gu district Chairperson Yoo Dong-cheol, drawing criticism that the vote would splinter. Five days before the election, Yoo resigned and unified with Lee Geon-tae, but as Lee finished last, the camp failed to consolidate votes for victory.
A floor official in the Democratic Party of Korea said, "It appears the pro-Jung camp used a strategy in which the two candidates evenly divided votes to place second and third, and it worked." The suggestion is that if Kang Deuk-gu, who won first place, had better coordinated a joint-win strategy with fellow pro–Lee candidate Lee Geon-tae, who lost in fourth place, the pro–Lee camp might have won two supreme council seats. In this election, the vote shares were Kang Deuk-gu 30.74%, Lee Sung-yoon 24.72%, Moon Jung-bok 23.95%, and Lee Geon-tae 20.59%.
◇ "Representative Jung seeks to strengthen control through the 'one person, one vote' system" vs. "Pro–Lee camp to rally amid a sense of crisis"
It is also notable that in this by-election for supreme council members, the pro-Jung camp outpaced the pro–Lee camp in the vote share among dues-paying party members. This relates to the "one person, one vote" system that Representative Jung Chung-rae has pursued as a long-cherished initiative. The one person, one vote system would replace the previous method that valued a delegate's vote about 20 times higher than that of a dues-paying member, treating the votes of delegates and dues-paying members equally. If adopted, dues-paying members would wield greater influence in local elections and the next party leader convention. A Democratic Party of Korea official said, "Representative Jung will want to push through the one person, one vote system to increase his grip on the party." There is growing speculation that Representative Jung and Prime Minister Kim Min-seok are likely to face off at the next party leader convention.
Some also say the by-election for supreme council members could prompt the pro–Lee camp to rally. A lawmaker with the Democratic Party of Korea said, "With Jung Sung-ho, regarded as the pro–Lee camp's leading figure, serving as Minister of Justice, there is a view that the pro–Lee camp's center of gravity in the Assembly has weakened," adding, "There is also talk that the (by-election result) could create an opportunity for the pro–Lee camp to regroup ahead of the local elections." Another official said, "The pro–Lee camp could unite around the shared sense of crisis that 'we must not be pushed back from the early days of the administration.'"