Democratic Party's 'Wednesday Massacre'... What Determined the Outcome?

7 Incumbent Democratic Party District Members Eliminated Through Primary on 6th
Shift Toward Non-Myeong Candidates Amid Pro-Myeong vs. Non-Myeong Divide
Significant Impact from Reduction of Elected Officials and Others

On the 6th, when the results of the Democratic Party of Korea's primaries in 20 districts were announced, the elimination of seven incumbent constituency lawmakers was confirmed. In political circles, this has been interpreted as a 'silent massacre,' with the power dynamics involving Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader, playing a decisive role in the election outcomes. However, it appears that factors beyond party members' and voters' preferences, such as deduction and addition results, also influenced the results.

According to the Democratic Party's announcement, seven incumbent constituency lawmakers lost in the primaries: Kang Byung-won of Eunpyeong-eul in Seoul, Jeon Hye-sook of Gwangjin-gu Gap, Yoon Young-chan of Seongnam-si Jungwon-gu in Gyeonggi Province, Jung Chun-sook of Yongin-si Byeong, Kim Han-jung of Namyangju-si Eul, Park Kwang-on of Suwon-jeong, and Lee Yong-bin of Gwangju Gwangsan-gap. The winners were former Eunpyeong District Mayor Kim Woo-young in Eunpyeong-eul, former JTBC anchor Lee Jeong-heon in Gwangjin-gu Gap, proportional representative lawmaker Lee Su-jin in Seongnam-si Jungwon-gu, former Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Boo Seung-chan in Yongin-si Byeong, proportional representative lawmaker Kim Byung-joo in Namyangju-si Eul, Kim Jun-hyuk, Democratic Party Strategic Planning Deputy Chair in Suwon-jeong, and former Gwangju High Prosecutor Park Gyun-taek in Gwangsan-gap. Considering the advantages incumbents usually have in terms of recognition, this is an unusually high replacement rate.

Park Beom-gye, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Democratic Party of Korea
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Except for Lee Yong-bin, most of the defeated lawmakers were considered part of the anti-Lee faction. This outcome has led to the assessment that the so-called 'Gaeddal,' a term referring to the party's hardcore supporters, have confirmed their dominance within the party. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seong-hwan said in a CBS radio interview, "I think the primary results confirm who the real owners of the party are," adding, "It reflects the will of the majority of party members, and those lawmakers who acted differently should be seen as having been judged in the primary process." In other words, they were held accountable.

However, there are also opinions that the results cannot be understood simply in terms of pro-Lee or anti-Lee factions. Proportional representative lawmaker Kim Ui-gyeom, who was aligned with Lee, lost in the Gunsan City primary in North Jeolla Province to Shin Young-dae, known as anti-Lee. In Seoul's Geumcheon-gu, lawmaker Choi Ki-sang defeated Jo Sang-ho, the Democratic Party Legal Committee Deputy Chair and known as Lee Jae-myung's Daejang-dong lawyer. Therefore, it is evaluated that the outcome was ultimately influenced not only by party sentiment but also by deductions based on evaluations of elected officials and additions for newcomers. In fact, lawmakers Yoon Young-chan and Kim Han-jung, who publicly disclosed that they received a 30% deduction for being in the bottom 10% in the elected officials' evaluation, lost. Media reports also indicated that Park Kwang-on, a former floor leader, received a bottom 20% evaluation.

Conversely, former Gwangju High Prosecutor Park Gyun-taek reportedly received a 20% bonus applied to political newcomers. The issue of awarding bonus points to high prosecutors had previously sparked controversy. The Democratic Party decided to grant only a 10% bonus to newcomers who were former metropolitan or provincial deputy heads, ministers or vice ministers, or senior secretaries at the Blue House, but decided to give a 20% bonus to former high prosecutors (Gogeomjang). Regarding this, candidates who competed against former high prosecutors argued that high prosecutors should be considered equivalent to vice ministers and thus only receive a 10% bonus.

Several primary races remain between pro-Lee and anti-Lee factions, and there is interest in whether the anti-Lee faction's defeats will continue. In addition to the runoff in Seoul Gangbuk-gu Eul (between Park Yong-jin and Jung Bong-ju, head of the Democratic Party Education Training Institute), attention is focused on primaries in Gwangju Seo-gu Gap (Song Gap-seok and Jo In-cheol, former Deputy Mayor of Culture and Economy of Gwangju Metropolitan City), Gyeonggi Gwangmyeong-si Eul (lawyer Kim Nam-hee and lawmaker Yang Ki-dae), Chungbuk Cheongju-si Heungdeok-gu (lawmaker Do Jong-hwan and Lee Yeon-hee, full-time deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute), Incheon Seo-gu Byeong (former Democratic Party representative office deputy chief Mo Kyung-jong, lawmaker Shin Dong-geun, and lawmaker Heo Sook-jung), and Gyeonggi Ansan-si Gap (lawmaker Jeon Hae-cheol and former Korea Communications Commission standing commissioner Yang Moon-seok).

Within the Democratic Party, there are concerns about the aftershocks of a pro-Lee-led nomination, whether due to party members' choices or the application of deductions. Song Gap-seok, an incumbent lawmaker in Gwangju Seo-gu Gap preparing for the primary, expressed in a BBS radio interview, "The trend of selecting candidates exclusively aligned with Lee Jae-myung does not seem likely to positively influence internal cohesion, unity, or the sentiments of moderate voters."

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