Kim Min-seok was elected as leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Kim failed to secure a majority in the first round of voting, but he beat Jung Chung-rae in the preference vote to become party leader.
The Democratic Party held a national convention on the afternoon of the 17th at the Daejeon Convention Center to choose a new leadership. This convention drew attention as a head-to-head matchup between Kim Min-seok, representing the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction, and the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction. Contrary to earlier expectations that Kim Min-seok would lead in the party leadership race, Jung performed well, leading to a fierce, neck-and-neck contest.
Kim appealed for support for President Lee Jae-myung and stressed "stability." In his final speech that day, Kim said, "I earnestly ask you to cast a weighty vote for stability and a majority to steady the party, and a vote to give an elected party leader the chance to work boldly."
Jung stressed "reform." He said, "The Democratic Party won when it pursued reform and did not succeed when it turned away from reform. Reform is the Democratic Party's identity, its banner, and its symbol," adding, "For victory in the general election and the presidential election, we must once again raise the banner of reform high. Let's not shake the achievements of reform we have made over the past year."
The party leader is elected by combining the votes of dues-paying members and national delegates, which account for 70%, with the results of a public opinion poll, which account for 30%. As Kim led through the Seoul and Gyeonggi primaries the day before, political attention focused on the public opinion poll results to be released that day. If Jung led significantly in the public poll, a last-minute dramatic reversal was also possible.
But the final public opinion poll results were tight. Jung had 50.70% and Kim had 49.30%, nearly split down the middle. In the national delegates' vote, Jung received 4,765 votes for 33.31%, and Kim received 9,541 votes for 66.69%. In the dues-paying members' vote, Jung received 338,809 votes for 44.06%, and Kim received 430,242 votes for 55.94%.
The final vote share was 45.92% for Jung and 54.08% for Kim. Although Kim failed to win a majority in the first round, he comfortably outpaced Jung in the runoff reflecting preference votes. His alliance with Song Young-gil and the pro-Lee camp paid off.
In the supreme council member vote, by contrast, "Team Jung Chung-rae" won three seats, asserting its presence. Candidates Choi Min-hee, Han Min-soo, and Lee Sung-yoon, classified as pro-Jung, were all elected. In particular, Choi Min-hee finished first with a final vote share of 18.35%, taking the "senior supreme council member" post.
From the pro-Lee camp, Seo Mi-hwa and Park Sun-won were elected. Kim Yong, considered one of President Lee Jae-myung's closest aides, failed to win a seat, finishing sixth behind Han Min-soo.