"Super Ruling Party," Heavy Responsibility for "Party Reconstruction"... The Start of Ruling and Opposition Floor Leader Elections

Lee In-young, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is talking with Jeon Hae-cheol, Democratic Party budget committee secretary, at the National Assembly plenary session on the 10th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] As the contours of the ruling and opposition parties' next floor leader candidates emerge, the election fever is heating up. The Democratic Party of Korea is under the spotlight for leading the 'super ruling party' with 180 seats, while the United Future Party faces the heavy responsibility of party reconstruction, drawing attention to the new leaders of both parties' floor leadership.

The Democratic Party will hold candidate registration for the new floor leader election on the 27th. The primary election will take place on the 7th of next month. As of now, three candidates are confirmed to run: four-term lawmakers Kim Tae-nyeon and Jung Sung-ho, and three-term lawmaker Jeon Hae-cheol.

Yoon Ho-jung, the party secretary-general and a four-term lawmaker, who was initially considered a strong candidate, has yet to decide whether to run. It is known that he is deliberating because if the party secretary-general runs, it could be seen as interfering in the floor election. Five-term Cho Jung-sik, the policy chief, and four-term lawmakers Noh Woong-rae and Ahn Kyu-baek, who were also mentioned as potential candidates, have decided not to run.

No Woong-rae, Lee In-young, and Kim Tae-nyeon, candidates challenging for the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, are attending the 'GTX-B Line Promotion Forum' held at the National Assembly on the 7th, exchanging greetings. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

If the candidates are finalized as is, political circles analyze that the election will be a 'two-strong, one-middle' race. The two strong candidates are Kim Tae-nyeon and Jeon Hae-cheol. They are classified as 'pro-Moon (pro-Moon Jae-in)' and have solid bases within the party. Kim is considered both pro-Moon and part of the 'Lee Hae-chan faction' within the party leadership, securing a strong position. Jeon is the leader of the 'Bu-eong-i Meeting,' a main group of pro-Moon lawmakers, making it easy to mobilize pro-Moon members. On the other hand, Jung Sung-ho is classified as non-mainstream and is expected to be at a disadvantage in the election.

The biggest variable in this primary is the votes of the first-term lawmakers, who make up 40% of all Democratic Party elected members (83 including the Together Citizens' Party). First-term lawmakers generally have weak factional ties and include many externally recruited members, making their voting intentions hard to predict. Coincidentally, a workshop for 83 first-term lawmakers from the Democratic Party and Citizens' Party will be held at the National Assembly main building starting this afternoon. The workshop is designed to explain the party system and the legislative activities of lawmakers. It is expected that the competition to win the first-term lawmakers' votes among floor leader candidates will be actively underway on this day.

Regarding the voting rights of the 15 Citizens' Party elected members, who were another variable, it has been decided not to grant them voting rights. Previously, the Citizens' Party demanded that their elected members be guaranteed voting rights, arguing that since the candidates were dispatched to the Citizens' Party on the premise of returning to the Democratic Party, they should have voting rights. However, Park Kwang-on, a Supreme Council member, stated today, "It's not that we are not giving voting rights, but that we cannot. There is no way." He added, "The discussion itself did not take place." Kim Kyung-hyeop, the first deputy secretary-general, also said, "Since they are different parties, there is no legal way. Changing party rules won't help. The discussion was already concluded last time that voting rights cannot be granted."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The United Future Party, which has its floor leader election scheduled for the 8th of next month, is also in the midst of intense behind-the-scenes competition. Candidates for the United Future Party floor leader include five-term lawmaker Joo Ho-young and four-term lawmakers Kwon Young-se, Kim Ki-hyun, Park Jin, and Lee Myung-soo. Among three-term lawmakers, Jang Je-won, Kim Tae-heum, and Yoo Ui-dong are mentioned as potential candidates. Although four-term lawmaker Kwon Sung-dong, who was elected as an independent after leaving the party, is also expected to run, he has yet to resolve the issue of rejoining the party.

The new floor leader of the United Future Party will bear heavy responsibility as they must lead party reconstruction in line with the soon-to-be-launched emergency committee system. With the Kim Jong-in emergency committee expected to push for rigorous party reforms, leadership will require gaining the consent and cooperation of party lawmakers.

Above all, since the party's power has diminished due to the 'crushing defeat' in this general election, negotiation skills with the ruling party are more important than ever. Therefore, unlike past elections characterized by factional battles between pro-Park (pro-Park Geun-hye) and non-pro-Park factions, this time, it is expected that negotiation ability and leadership skills will determine voter preferences.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.