Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 27th that if we move as far as a structural majority, we could be on the path to regaining power and creating a new administration.
At a leadership greeting during the "2026 regular National Assembly preparation lawmakers' workshop" held at Inspire Entertainment Resort in Yeongjong-gu, Incheon, that day, leader Kim said, it may be an excessive simplification and there may be many combinations, but elections are about securing a temporary majority, and if we move that to a structural majority, we could be on the path to the victory we want and to regaining power and creating a new administration.
Kim went on to say, this would likely be similar to what President Lee Jae-myung thinks, adding that an expansion from the traditional support base to moderates and conservatives is also necessary. However, regarding expansion to moderates and conservatives, there is also the view that, at present, it may be unavoidable after the insurrection.
He then mentioned former leader Jung Chung-rae, who competed with him during the party convention. He said, we fought fiercely for a month, and it may be impossible to resolve overnight the many differences that emerged from the process of fighting fiercely going forward, adding that it is unlikely to be solved simply by us being nice or with a "love shot."
Kim said, because these are differences in each other's judgment, we should both reach a tentative conclusion that it is difficult to compromise with each other, adding that it is necessary for us to align on a direction by understanding the current differences in our standing through as homogenous a discussion as possible.
As a strategy for regaining power, he brought up the case of the Kim Dae-jung administration. He explained that although the New Politics National Assembly, the predecessor of the Democratic Party and then the ruling party, came to power as the traditional opposition party, after taking power it transformed into a party called the Millennium Democratic Party, leaving the original supporters and core forces in place while bringing in a substantial number of new figures on top.
He continued, at that time, as party leader, they drew in a variety of people, including women business leaders, adding that in the end they used that party to fight the general election, regained power, ultimately untangled inter-Korean relations, and built a welfare state. He also added that only by regaining power can it be considered a true victory in running state affairs, and from that perspective, if we fail to regain power, a considerable portion of our efforts could be set back.