Unexpected 'Complete Defeat' of Incumbents in Gwangju During Democratic Party Primary... What Is the Cause?

Jooseop, Hyeongseok, and Youngdeok Yoon Defeated in Gwangju Incumbent Primary
Kim Suheung Also Defeated in Iksan

In Honam, including Gwangju, an 'upset' occurred as incumbent Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers were completely defeated in the primaries. Since this result was unexpected even within the region, the local political scene is also expected to be shaken.

The DPK Central Election Commission announced the results of the primaries for 21 constituencies on the afternoon of the 21st at the Yeouido party headquarters. In this primary, Jeong Junho, a lawyer, won in Gwangju Buk-gu Gap; Jeon Jin-sook, a former Gwangju city council member, won in Gwangju Buk-gu Eul; and Jeong Jin-wook, a special political advisor to the party leader, won in Dong-gu Nam-gu Gap. Incumbents Jo Oh-seop, Lee Hyeong-seok, and Yoon Young-duk were each eliminated. In Iksan-si Gap, Jeonbuk Province, former lawmaker Lee Chun-seok defeated incumbent lawmaker Kim Su-heung.

It was hardly expected that incumbent lawmakers would be collectively defeated in these constituencies where winning the party primary practically guarantees victory in the general election.

Im Hyuk-baek, Chairman of the Democratic Party's Public Office Election Candidate Recommendation Management Committee, is announcing the first round primary candidates at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul on the 6th. Previously, the committee conducted interviews over six days from the 31st of last month until the 5th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Within the DPK, there were reactions such as "Perhaps there was strong public sentiment for change within the region." In fact, in the last local election, Gwangju recorded a historically low voter turnout of 37.7%. It is highly likely that the cold public sentiment in the region translated into a demand for change.

There is also an interpretation that pro-Lee Jae-myung (pro-Lee Jae-myung faction) non-incumbents defeated the incumbents. Jeong, the special political advisor, and Jeong, the lawyer, are said to be figures aligned with the pro-Lee faction. Jeong, the special political advisor, emphasized his experience with the election commission and as a special advisor to Lee Jae-myung, the DPK leader, while Jeong, the lawyer, highlighted his role as head of the Organization Division 3 of Lee Jae-myung’s Gwangju campaign committee during the presidential election.

There is also an interpretation that the complex alliances and realignments ahead of the election may have influenced the results. After the 1:1 primary matchups were set, complicated coalitions and realignments among candidates may have been reflected in the election outcomes.

In the Seoul metropolitan area, incumbent lawmakers showed strong performances. In Seoul Seodaemun-gu Eul, lawmaker Kim Young-ho won; in Seoul Songpa-gu Byeong, lawmaker Nam In-soon won; in Incheon Yeonsu-gu Eul, lawmaker Jeong Il-young won; in Incheon Namdong-gu Gap, lawmaker Maeng Seong-gyu won; in Daejeon Yuseong-gu Gap, lawmaker Jo Seung-rae won; in Gyeonggi-do Gwangmyeong-si Gap, lawmaker Im Oh-kyung won; in Gyeonggi-do Gunpo-si, lawmaker Lee Hak-young won; in Gyeonggi-do Paju-si Gap, lawmaker Yoon Hu-deok won; and in Chungnam Dangjin-si, lawmaker Eo Gi-gu secured a ticket to the general election.

Meanwhile, this primary, conducted through a public opinion poll method, was held as a national participation primary with 50% of votes from general citizens and 50% from party members via automated response telephone (ARS) voting.

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