Democratic Party's Leadership Election Becomes Three-Way Race Among Lee Jae-myung, Park Yong-jin, and Kang Hoon-sik (Update)

Lee Jae-myung "I Understand It as a Call to Regain Public Trust and Build a 'Competent Party'"
On 97 Group's Park Yong-jin and Kang Hoon-sik Unification Question, "We Will Discuss It"

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Park Jun-i] Lee Jae-myung, Park Yong-jin, and Kang Hoon-sik, candidates running for the Democratic Party of Korea's party leader election, secured their spots in the final round on the 28th.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On this day, the Democratic Party of Korea announced that in the party leader preliminary election (cutoff) held from 1 PM to 6 PM at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, the combined results of the Central Committee vote (70%) and public opinion poll (30%) confirmed that Lee Jae-myung, Park Yong-jin, and Kang Hoon-sik passed the preliminary round.

Previously, there were a total of eight candidates who declared their intention to run for the Democratic Party leader election, including Kim Min-seok, Lee Dong-hak, Kang Byung-won, Park Joo-min, and Seol Hoon, but the preliminary round narrowed the field down to three.

After the event, candidate Lee met with reporters and said, "I sincerely thank the Central Committee members, party members, and the people who support the Democratic Party for their choice," adding, "I understand this as a message to make the Democratic Party a competent party by regaining the expectations and trust of the people, rather than engaging in politics that gains reflexive benefits by waiting for the opposing party's failure."

He emphasized, "I will ensure that the Democratic Party wins the next general election and also the upcoming presidential election," and added, "Although a fierce final round remains, I will do my best to discuss the development direction of the Democratic Party and turn this into a good opportunity to give hope to the people."

While Lee Jae-myung's passage through the cutoff was considered a foregone conclusion, the competition for the remaining two final round tickets was expected to be strong among the '97 Group' (those who entered university in the 1990s and born in the 1970s). With Park Yong-jin and Kang Hoon-sik, both members of the 97 Group, securing their places in the final round, attention is now focused on whether discussions for unification will open up.

After the event, candidate Park told reporters, "I will promptly hold discussions with candidate Kang regarding unification to create a winning Democratic Party," and added, "I will have a close phone call with candidate Kang before tonight ends."

In response, candidate Kang also said regarding unification-related questions from reporters, "In principle, we agreed to discuss (unification) after the cutoff, so I think we should have that discussion," and added, "If Representative Park contacts me, I will discuss the timing of unification."

The three candidates who passed the preliminary round plan to tour nationwide, including Gangwon Province, Gyeongsang Province, Jeju, Chungcheong Province, Honam, Incheon, and Seoul·Gyeonggi, over the next month until the party convention on August 28 to present their platforms.

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