Democrats Conduct Poll Excluding Incumbents... 'Bimyeong Faction Purge' Becomes Visible

Excluding Extreme Opinions in Polls... "Not a Party-Level Investigation"
Lee Jae-myung, Sacheon Controversy... Private Discussions with Close Associates?
Im Jong-seok's Nomination 'Landmine'... Leadership Demands Difficult Districts

The Democratic Party of Korea is facing growing backlash over the 'cutoff list' as it conducts opinion polls excluding some incumbents ahead of notifying candidates. In particular, speculation that party leader Lee Jae-myung is privately discussing nomination matters with close aides has sparked controversy over 'sacheon' (secret nominations).

According to political circles on the 19th, the Democratic Party will soon begin individually notifying the bottom 20% of incumbent lawmakers based on evaluations. The lowest 10% will have 30% of their primary votes deducted, effectively amounting to 'nomination exclusion.' Around last weekend, opinion polls on candidate suitability were conducted excluding mid-level incumbents, creating a tense atmosphere both inside and outside the party. There is backlash suggesting an intention to exclude certain individuals.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

For example, in the Incheon Bupyeong-eul district, the opinion poll included candidates such as Lee Dong-ju, incumbent lawmaker Hong Young-pyo (a four-term non-Lee faction member) was excluded, and recruited talent Park Seon-won, former 1st Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, was included. In Gwangju Seo-gap, the poll excluded two-term non-Lee faction lawmaker Song Gap-seok and was conducted based on a hypothetical three-way contest among Jeong Eun-gyeong, a professor at Chonnam National University Medical School; Ha Heon-sik, a People Power Party candidate; and Lee Nak-yeon, co-leader of the Reform New Party. The pro-Moon faction is also targeted. In Seoul Guro-gap, the constituency of four-term lawmaker Lee In-young, who served as Minister of Unification during the Moon Jae-in administration, the poll was reportedly conducted excluding the incumbent.

In particular, speculation that party leader Lee is holding private meetings with close aides to discuss nominations has fueled the 'sacheon' controversy. It is said that instead of the Nomination Management Committee, the leadership and Lee’s close aides are separately receiving reports on nomination strategies and candidate reshuffling. Although the leadership has denied this, trust in the 'system nomination' is eroding. On the night of the 13th, Lee reportedly held a late-night private meeting to discuss excluding incumbents such as lawmakers Roh Woong-rae, Ki Dong-min, and Lee Soo-jin, who are under allegations of misconduct, from nominations.

On the morning of the same day, the Democratic Party issued a statement denying the claims, saying, "Leader Lee did not instruct any unofficial working meetings, nor were any such meetings held." Additionally, a party official told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "(The opinion polls that caused controversy over the weekend) were not conducted at the party level." The official added, "We are going through various processes to assess competitiveness for the general election," and emphasized, "No one is excluded from nominations due to factional reasons."

Im Hyuk-baek, Chair of the Nomination Management Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, is presiding over the 1st Central Party Public Office Candidate Recommendation Management Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 12th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Im Hyuk-baek, chairman of the Nomination Management Committee, also sent a message to reporters recently, stating, "There is no secret nomination," attempting to calm the situation. However, it seems difficult to quell the already emerging discord. A senior non-Lee faction lawmaker criticized, "If nominations are to be discussed behind closed doors, then why was the Nomination Management Committee formed?" and warned, "If such stories keep coming out, even if the cutoff list is notified, incumbents will find it hard to accept." Another pro-Moon faction lawmaker said, "No one opposes the need for reform," but pointedly added, "They should first explain why close aides of the leader are not included in the turnover targets."

The Democratic Party plans to delay announcing nominations for constituencies expected to face backlash as much as possible. They are considering announcing as early as late this week or by the end of the month. Among these, the nomination decision for former Blue House Chief of Staff Lim Jong-seok is seen as a trigger that could determine the direction of factional conflicts. Lim, who has served two terms, declared his candidacy for Seoul Jung-seongdong-gap, but there is strong pressure from the pro-Lee faction for him to either not run or run in a difficult district. In fact, in recent opinion polls conducted to assess candidate competitiveness, Lim was included in the candidate pool for Seoul Songpa-gap.

Meanwhile, lawmaker Hwang Un-ha, who was sentenced to three years in prison in the first trial for the 'Ulsan mayoral election interference' case, which corresponds to losing his seat, announced on the same day that he will not run in the general election.

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