![Candidates who passed the Democratic Party of Korea's preliminary primary for party leader and supreme council members pose for a photo at the National Assembly members' office building on July 23. From left: supreme council candidate Park Seon-won, supreme council candidate Lee Sung-yoon, supreme council candidate Han Min-su, supreme council candidate Choi Min-hee, Rep. So Byeong-hun (chair of the central party election management committee), party leader candidate Jung Chung-rae, floor leader and acting party leader Han Byung-do, party leader candidate Kim Min-seok, party leader candidate Song Young-gil, Rep. Lee Hak-yeong (chair of the national party congress preparatory committee), supreme council candidate Kim Yong, supreme council candidate Seo Mi-hwa, supreme council candidate Im Mi-ae and supreme council candidate Kim Yeong-ho. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/08/01/news-p.v1.20260801.04a6d002a22d4b099323959723e00570_P1.png)
The Democratic Party of Korea held its first regional primary of the leadership race Saturday in South Chungcheong Province, with party leader candidates Song Young-gil, Jung Chung-rae and Kim Min-seok each making their case to members. Kim and Song went on the offensive against Jung, holding him responsible for tensions between the party and the presidential office, while Jung stressed that he was the candidate who would stand by President Lee Jae Myung to the end. The party conducted a rights-member vote across Daejeon, South Chungcheong Province, Sejong and North Chungcheong Province from Monday through Thursday, with results to be announced in Daejeon on Saturday afternoon.
The three candidates — speaking in ballot order — addressed a joint rally at the South Chungcheong Transportation Training Center in Gongju on Saturday morning ahead of the results announcement. Kim said the ongoing clash between President Lee and Jung — which he dubbed the "'Myeong-Cheong' (Lee Jae Myung–Jung Chung-rae) battle" — was "hell for the Democratic Party," and called on members to "close the gates of that hell." He urged the party to build "a truly pro-Lee Jae Myung leadership where the party leader and the president work hand in hand," warning that friction between the party and the government was destabilizing elections. "We cannot go down the worst path where the party, the government and the president are all shaken," he said. Kim also pledged to hold primary elections without exception for all positions — party leader and supreme council alike — and to restore "the capable, winning Democratic Party that Lee Jae Myung built," adding that he had a plan to lift the party's approval rating by more than 10 percentage points within three months.
Kim said the defining spirit of the era was "opening a golden age for the Democratic Party, a golden age for democracy and a golden age for the Republic of Korea," and cautioned that the party must not waver after just one year. "The summit is next, and President Lee is opening that door," he said.
Jung presented himself as the architect of a series of reforms — a party built on member sovereignty, a one-member-one-vote system, the abolition of the Prosecution Service, the passage of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency Act and the Public Prosecution Act, and the full elimination of supplementary investigative powers. The remarks appeared aimed at appealing to the party's hard-line base, which prizes reform credentials. "Who pushed for the one-member-one-vote system, who opposed it, and who is still trying to undermine it?" Jung said, asking members to give him their support and promising to guarantee members' right to information.
Jung said the party must build on the legacies of Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in to further advance what he called "Lee Jae Myung's history," and pledged to lead efforts to make the Lee Jae Myung government a success. He recalled serving as senior supreme council member when Lee led the party, saying he had fought hardest at Lee's side. "The person who will keep faith with the party and stay loyal to President Lee to the very end is Jung Chung-rae," he said. Jung also vowed to pursue unity and solidarity across the broader progressive camp, saying, "We have won when we united and lost when we divided. We will win the general election through unity and the presidential election through solidarity."
Song said that while Jung had pledged to run a positive campaign, "I will not forgive anyone who runs a negative campaign against President Lee," and asked whether the party needed a leader who stayed silent while writer Yu Si-min "heaped curses on the Lee Jae Myung government."
Song also pushed back on Jung's claim to ownership of the reform agenda. "Even without Jung, I have consistently called for abolishing supplementary investigative powers — and so has Kim Min-seok. Is this anyone's exclusive achievement?" he said, questioning why Jung was seeking a second term on the strength of reforms that were already settled.
On Jung's bid for a consecutive term, Song said it was not in Democratic Party tradition for a leader to serve two terms in a row, noting that Lee Jae Myung was the only exception — and that his case had been an unavoidable choice to protect a strong presidential candidate against what Song called "prosecutorial authoritarian suppression." "Now that we are in the era of the Lee Jae Myung government, what is the point of seeking a consecutive term?" he said.
cook@heraldcorp.com
