Choi Min-hee, the newly elected chief supreme council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, attends the party's national convention at the Daejeon Convention Center on Monday. [Yonhap]
Choi Min-hee, the newly elected chief supreme council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, attends the party's national convention at the Daejeon Convention Center on Monday. [Yonhap]

As the Democratic Party of Korea officially launched its new leadership under Kim Min-seok, the race for five elected Supreme Council seats produced what analysts are calling a "half victory" for the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction — with three of its members winning seats against two for the pro-Lee Jae Myung camp.

At the party's third regular national convention held Monday at the Daejeon Convention Center, Choi Min-hee, Park Seon-won, Seo Mi-hwa, Lee Sung-yoon and Han Min-su were elected to the Supreme Council.

Choi, Lee Sung-yoon and Han are aligned with the pro-Jung faction, while Park and Seo are considered pro-Lee. Although Jung Chung-rae himself lost his bid for party leader, analysts say the faction's clean sweep of its council candidates reaffirmed its influence within the party and expectations for a reform-oriented direction.

In terms of vote share, Choi led the field with 18.35 percent, edging out Park's 17.57 percent to claim the chief supreme council seat. Kim Yong, who received backing from candidates Im Mi-ae and Kim Yeong-ho — both of whom withdrew their own candidacies to support him — finished sixth with 15.26 percent and failed to win a seat.

Choi appeared on SBS Radio on Tuesday and assessed the convention results, saying party members and supporters had placed emphasis on "whether Rep. Kim could more actively back President Lee Jae Myung," while also giving serious thought to "whether the party still needs to strengthen its reform character."

She added that she still felt "deeply sorry" that Jung had not been elected as a reform-minded party leader. Asked whether she intended to correct Kim if he strayed from the right path, Choi was guarded, saying she would "make a judgment once Rep. Kim lays out his specific plans."

On President Lee's recent slide in approval ratings, Choi said she believed "the time has come to earn points by getting things done" — including handling the government's tax reform bill in the National Assembly and quickly preparing legislation to support semiconductor development and the Honam mega-project.

Regarding Jung's remark on his personal YouTube channel shortly after the convention — that "Rep. Kim won, but many of his arguments lost" — Choi said it was "natural for a democratic party to have differing views," adding that "leadership ultimately means whether you can reconcile those differences and forge a unified position." She said she would "wait and see" whether the new leader follows through on his pledge to resolve tensions over allegations of a secret alliance with the Shinchonji religious group that surfaced during the convention.

Bridging the emotional divide between pro-Lee and pro-Jung council members is widely seen as the Kim leadership's most pressing task. Park Seon-won, aligned with the pro-Lee faction, addressed the issue on Facebook, writing: "I will work toward harmony and unity. I will do my best. Please teach me and guide me."

The two sides clashed repeatedly during the convention. The pro-Lee faction filed a complaint with the party's central National Election Commission over the pro-Jung camp's "birthday voting guidelines," while the pro-Jung side countered by filing its own complaint over banners in some regions calling for "100 percent turnout among all party members." The party's National Election Commission ultimately dismissed both complaints.


bigroot@heraldcorp.com