Kang Wiwon "Gwangju City Party Open 365 Days... Rebirth of the Era of Party Member Sovereignty"

Kang Wiwon Declares Candidacy for Co-Chair of the Democratic Party National Innovation Council

Gwangju Party Chairmanship Contest Set Between Incumbent and Non-Incumbent Figures

Innovation in Operations and Nominations Based on Openness, Horizontality, and Diversity Principles

The election for the chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea's Gwangju Metropolitan City Party Committee, who will lead the 2026 local elections, has become a contest between an incumbent and an outsider.

Kang Wiwon, the standing representative of the Democratic Party's National Innovation Council, officially declared his candidacy for the chairman of the Democratic Party's Gwangju City Party Committee, aiming to create a party committee that is open 365 days a year, free from electoral districts and elections, reflecting the desire for an era of party member sovereignty.

Kang Wiwon, the standing representative of the Democratic Party Innovation Council, is declaring his candidacy for the Democratic Party Gwangju City Committee Chair at the Gwangju Metropolitan Council on the morning of the 24th.

He set forth key goals such as "building a party-centered mass party, enabling party members to exercise nomination rights in local elections, and establishing a competent Gwangju City Party Committee."

Standing Representative Kang said, "I have focused on nurturing the seeds of a future social model from the most marginalized, lowest places, and the outskirts of our society. In Yeonggwang, Jeonnam, Gwangsan, Gwangju, and Gyeonggi Province, I have experienced and proven through results how villages change, communities transform, and our lives improve through the principles of cooperation and dedicated commitment." He added, "Now, I want to return and take a new path within the Gwangju community."

He continued, "We must respond to the expectations of the people who love the Democratic Party and its members by opposing the tyranny of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and establishing the Democratic Party as a competent ruling party to win the local elections and achieve regime change." He asserted, "Starting from Gwangju, the stronghold of the Democratic Party, I will realize party-centered democracy and a mass party based on party member sovereignty to bring about bolder changes and results."

To build a party-centered mass party, he emphasized, "I will achieve operational innovation based on three principles of openness, horizontality, and diversity, including the direct election of all standing committee chairpersons by party members with voting rights, implementation of budget transparency and a participatory budget system for party members, and the utilization of party member general meetings and the creation of exemplary party member autonomy."

He also expressed his ambition to eliminate factional nominations by allowing party members to directly exercise nomination rights in local elections. He promised to eradicate unfair backdoor nomination practices, establish a nomination system that is publicly grown, discovered, and recommended, and nurture political activists through the operation of the Gwangju City Party Committee grassroots political academy.

He also stressed the establishment of a Gwangju branch of the Democratic Research Institute.

Representative Kang explained, "We will promote practical research to build strong autonomous capabilities and lead the success of local governments. Centered on the Gwangju branch of the Democratic Research Institute, we will create a practical cooperation system with local researchers, research institutions, and local governments, and discover concrete policies that genuinely improve the lives of Gwangju citizens. We will create a model local government in Gwangju that properly implements the values, aspirations, platform, and policies of the Democratic Party."

Furthermore, he said, "The party committee chairman cannot come to the party office every Monday through Friday. The party office, not a 'weekend party office' or a 'meeting-only party office,' must be open 365 days a year." He added, "Without being 'golden-eared and silver-tongued,' I will meet citizens and party members every day, urgently engaging with citizens and humbly serving party members in this era of party member sovereignty."

He also stated, "I want to create a Gwangju City Party Committee that rewrites the history of the Democratic Party and becomes a touchstone that elevates the pride, self-esteem, and dignity of Gwangju politics and the Gwangju Democratic Party." He declared, "I will make Gwangju a sacred place and pilgrimage site for party politics, party member democracy, and the era of party member sovereignty."

Standing Representative Kang emphasized, "If the government run by the Democratic Party is no different from the People Power Party, there is no reason for the Democratic Party to be in power. The same applies to local governments and local councils." He stressed, "Now, we need the most Democratic Party-like policies that people can feel as change and effective policies that can change our lives."

He added, "I will realize a political arena that draws the blueprint of a new world from the bottom up, here in Gwangju, the symbol of democratization, together with the nameless ordinary party members. Please hold Kang Wiwon's hand and be a source of strength," he concluded.

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