"Catch the Chosun"... 3 Distinct Pledges of the 3 Ruling Party Floor Leader Candidates

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Candidates running for the floor leader position of the Democratic Party of Korea officially launched their election campaigns on the 29th. As first-term lawmakers are expected to play a decisive role in the outcome of this floor leader election, attention is also focused on the candidates' pledges aimed at winning their support.

According to the Democratic Party, the registration of candidates for the floor leader election was completed the day before, resulting in a three-way race among lawmakers Kim Tae-nyeon, Jeon Hae-cheol, and Jung Sung-ho (in order of ballot number).

The key battleground in this election is the votes of first-term lawmakers, who make up 40% of all eligible voters. First-term lawmakers generally have weak factional ties and include many externally recruited members, making their voting intentions difficult to predict. Therefore, candidates have put considerable effort into pledges targeting this group.

First, Kim, a four-term lawmaker classified as pro-Moon Jae-in (Chinmun), pledged to assign first-term lawmakers to standing committees based on their expertise. He stated, "First-term lawmakers are the face of our party and future leaders. I will actively support first-term lawmakers with expertise in various fields to fully realize their potential," adding, "Considering their expertise, I will prioritize assigning first-term lawmakers to standing committees and establish a Floor Pledge Implementation Support Group to actively support the realization of their pledges and legislative activities." He also said, "We need to transform the National Assembly's system into a working system," promising, "I will immediately introduce a permanent session system. We will restore the principle of standing committee-centered operations and prevent the Legislative and Judiciary Committee from overstepping its authority. We will expand multiple subcommittees to allow first-term lawmakers to utilize their expertise."

Jeon, a three-term lawmaker who served as Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs under the Roh Moo-hyun administration and is also classified as pro-Moon, emphasized legislative support for first-term lawmakers. He pledged, "I will establish an effective support system to ensure party operations centered on lawmakers," and "Based on lawmakers' expertise and areas of interest, institutional improvements they want to pursue will be supported at the party level as representative legislative brands." He added, "Party operations must shift from elite leadership decided by a few to collective intelligence leadership," and "In major policy decisions, all lawmakers will lead party-government cooperation centered on standing committees."

Jung, a four-term lawmaker classified as 'non-mainstream,' advocated breaking away from 'lineage politics.' He said, "Factions that share policies and visions should be respected and supported, but factions based on origin and connections, and even lineage politics centered on specific individuals, should be avoided," pledging, "Assignments to standing committees and floor personnel appointments will be strictly conducted according to precedents and principles such as seniority and region, making the most of each lawmaker's strengths." Jung also stated, "I will not engage in so-called 'position trading.' The practice of ranking that harms a healthy party culture must disappear," and "I will eliminate regionalism and favoritism that hinder harmony."

Their efforts to win the support of first-term lawmakers are expected to accelerate after the plenary session in the afternoon, where the second supplementary budget bill (추경) and major bills will be processed. It is anticipated that from the 30th, when the 'golden holiday' begins, meetings with individual first-term lawmakers or groups will take place.

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