The Democratic Party of Korea will hold a supreme council meeting on the 12th to discuss the Aug. 17 national convention rules. With clashes continuing between the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction and the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction over adopting a preferential voting system and a youth supreme councilor system, attention is on whether a decision will be reached that day.
The Democratic Party plans to hold a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the day. The leadership intended to finalize the convention rules by convening a late-night supreme council on the 10th, but it fell through because differences among supreme councilors could not be bridged. Acting Chair and Floor Leader Han Byeong-do is said to have engaged in behind-the-scenes coordination over the weekend with both the pro-Jung faction and the pro-Lee faction.
The key issue is whether to introduce a preferential voting system and a youth supreme councilor system. Although the National Convention Preparatory Committee (Junjunwi) of the Democratic Party resolved to introduce both, the supreme council has not reached a conclusion. Currently, out of seven Democratic Party supreme councilors, four are classified as pro-Jung. The pro-Jung faction is reportedly judging that both the preferential voting system and the youth supreme councilor system would be disadvantageous.
The convention rules are finalized only after the Junjunwi's resolution goes through the supreme council and the party affairs committee. If the pro-Jung supreme councilors do not change their position, it will be difficult to introduce both the preferential voting system and the youth supreme councilor system.
Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and lawmaker Song Young-gil's camp say the convention rules should be set as resolved by the Junjunwi. In contrast, former Chair Jung's side also shows no sign of backing down. Depending on the conclusion at the supreme council that day, the Democratic Party's internal strife appears likely to intensify, with no small aftershocks.