300,000 New Rights-Holding Membership Applications Received by Democratic Party's Gwangju and South Jeolla Branches

Approximately 300,000 applications were submitted in the latest round of new membership recruitment by the Gwangju Metropolitan and South Jeolla Provincial branches of the Democratic Party of Korea. As the nationwide local elections approach next year, competition to secure organized party members is intensifying.

Jeong Cheongrae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 18th. 2025.8.18 Photo by Kim Hyunmin

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According to the Gwangju branch of the Democratic Party on the 18th, about 150,000 membership applications were submitted to both the Gwangju and South Jeolla branches, respectively, during the new membership registration period that ended on the 14th. Considering that the number of rights-holding party members in the Honam region (Gwangju, South Jeolla, and North Jeolla) stood at 365,000 during last year's party leader by-election, this latest round of applications is nearly equivalent to the total number of rights-holding members in the Honam region.

However, the actual number of rights-holding party members could decrease significantly once duplicate registrations by existing members and false entries among new applicants are filtered out. Nevertheless, the total membership of the Gwangju branch stands at around 420,000, and the South Jeolla branch at around 600,000. If these members pay party dues for at least six months before next year's local elections, they will qualify as rights-holding party members.

Regarding this, an official from the Gwangju branch stated, "It is difficult to confirm the final increase in rights-holding party members, excluding ineligible applicants, because the party does not distribute the membership list ahead of the elections."

This overheated recruitment drive is being analyzed as a result of prospective candidates seeking to secure organizational support ahead of next year's local elections. In recent elections, the Democratic Party has reflected a 50% weighting for rights-holding party members and 50% for general opinion polls, and it is believed that securing more rights-holding members will be advantageous in next year's local primary races as well.

As a result, concerns have been raised that this could disadvantage political newcomers and, if primary results are determined by the number of rights-holding members secured, could lead to a distortion of public sentiment. During his presidential candidacy, President Lee Jaemyung proposed applying different weighting ratios for rights-holding party members by region, but whether this will actually be implemented remains uncertain.

Under the leadership of Jeong Cheongrae, the influence of rights-holding party members is likely to grow even further, as measures to strengthen party member sovereignty-such as the 'one person, one vote' system to equalize the value of votes between rights-holding members and delegates, and the election of Supreme Council members by ordinary party members-are being promoted.

An official in political circles remarked, "Although the primary rules have not yet been finalized, securing a large number of rights-holding party members is advantageous for prospective candidates. Given the current atmosphere, it is also difficult to reduce the role of rights-holding members, which is fueling the overheated competition."

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