Park Seon-won's candidacy declaration puts Supreme Council field in focus; pro-Lee and pro-Jung factions eye seats

Jung Chung-rae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, leaves a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on Wednesday after announcing his resignation as party leader. [Yonhap]
Jung Chung-rae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, leaves a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on Wednesday after announcing his resignation as party leader. [Yonhap]

By Joo So-hyun, The Herald Business

With the Democratic Party of Korea's Aug. 17 national convention approaching, competition for the party leadership is intensifying — and the race for Supreme Council seats is now fully underway. Because the convention carries the power to determine candidate nominations for the next general election, securing Supreme Council positions has emerged as a critical variable for rival factions, not just the party leader contest.

According to political sources Thursday, the Democratic Party plans to form a convention preparatory committee on Friday and open candidate registration July 16 and 17. Rep. Park Seon-won became the first to formally declare a Supreme Council bid on Wednesday. Other contenders are expected to announce their candidacies one by one in early July, after the leading party leader hopefuls make their own declarations.

The party leader race has sharpened into a three-way contest among Jung Chung-rae — who stepped down as party leader Wednesday and officially launched a reelection bid — Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, and former party leader Song Young-gil. Observers widely expect the Supreme Council election to follow the same fault lines, playing out as a battle between pro-Jung and pro-Lee factions.

On the pro-Lee Jae Myung side, Park Seon-won is joined by Reps. Park Sung-jun and Lee Geon-tae, who led the push to introduce a special prosecutor act to drop charges against President Lee, as leading contenders. Kim Yong, a close aide to President Lee and former vice president of the Democratic Research Institute, is also weighing a Supreme Council run. Reps. Kim Young-ho and Min Byung-deok, considered close to former leader Song, along with Reps. Kim Seung-won, Lee Jeong-heon, Jeong Jun-ho and Jeong Jin-uk, are also categorized as pro-Lee candidates.

On the pro-Jung Chung-rae side, Rep. Lee Sung-yun — who joined the Supreme Council through a by-election last year — along with Rep. Han Min-su, the party leader's chief of staff, and Rep. Choi Min-hee are among those being mentioned. Given that a preliminary election is held when there are nine or more Supreme Council candidates, observers increasingly believe the factions will not pare down their fields before the vote.

The central question in the Supreme Council race is whether the incoming party leader's allies can secure a majority of the five elected seats. Even a newly elected party leader risks weakened authority if the opposing faction dominates the council. The Supreme Council formed at this convention will consist of nine members: the elected party leader, five elected Supreme Council members, the floor leader and two appointed members.

A Supreme Council by-election held late last year for three elected seats pitted pro-Jung lawmakers Lee Sung-yun and Moon Jeong-bok against pro-Lee lawmakers Kang Deuk-gu and Lee Geon-tae. Rep. Lee Geon-tae's defeat was widely seen as a victory for the pro-Jung camp.

There are growing concerns both inside and outside the party that factional tensions during the convention could deepen into internal divisions. "The atmosphere has solidified into one where party leader and Supreme Council candidates run as running mates, making it increasingly hard to find any Supreme Council hopeful willing to stand outside the factional blocs," a party official said.

Rep. Park Seon-won, who declared her candidacy Wednesday, appeared on MBC Radio Thursday and said the convention atmosphere was already charged with factional energy. "There is a pervasive sense that the party leader race is being treated like a preliminary bout for the next presidential election, with candidates splitting into three or four camps," she said. "I declared my candidacy for the Supreme Council out of a sense of crisis — a feeling that the overall atmosphere of loosening support for the president's governing leadership must not be allowed to continue."


addressh@heraldcorp.com