Lee Jae-myung wins his second term as DPK leader

Lee Jae-myung, the new leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, raises his hand to greet his supporters after winning his second term at a national convention in Seoul on August 18. Yonhap News

Lee Jae-myung, the candidate for the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), won an overwhelming majority of votes on August 18, starting his second term as leader. It is interpreted as the result of opposition supporters choosing Lee as the vanguard of the struggle against the ruling party. The new representative, who succeeded in strengthening the "unipolarity system," will be in an advantageous position in the future presidential election.

Lee won 85.4 percent of the total votes at a national convention held at the Olympic Park in Seoul, beating out other candidates Kim Doo-gwan (12.12 percent) and Kim Ji-soo (2.48 percent). The number of votes Lee garnered is the highest for a DPK leader at a national convention. The second highest was 77.77 percent that Lee himself received in the national convention in 2022.

Lee secured his victory early on, receiving overwhelming votes of the 80-90 percent range from registered party members in the 15 online primaries held in 17 regions across the country. The election atmosphere of “Eodaemyung” (Lee Jae-myung will be elected as a DPK leader anyway) has been expanded to “Hwakdaemyung” (Lee will be elected as a DPK leader definitely). Although it fell short of the "Gudaemyung” (Lee will be elected as a DPK leader with 90 percent of the votes), he won a landslide victory with around 80 percent votes in the first and second public polls, opinion polls of registered party members, and the vote of electoral delegates announced on the same day.

In his acceptance speech, Lee said, “We must revitalize politics and give hope to the people,” and proposed a meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol. He also proposed a meeting with Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the ruling People's Power Party (PPP). “Above all, we need to have a thorough discussion on a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into Marine Corps Corporal Chae Su-geun,” he added. ”Han has also proposed a recommendation for a special counsel investigation conducted by a third-party, so I look forward to an open discussion on whether there is a better plan to clarify the facts under the premise of introducing a special investigation.”

It is the first time in 24 years that a leader of democratic parties in Korea serves a second term in a row. Since former President Kim Dae-jung served as the leader of the National Congress for New Politics (the predecessor of the DPK) from 1995 to 2000, there has been no such case in democratic parties.

Lee's victory is believed to have been driven by the opposition supporters’ decision to form a united team centered on Lee to counter the Yoon administration. The need for strong leadership appears to have gained momentum in the face of the political situation where Yoon continued exercising his veto power and the lack of progress in investigating the Marine Corporal Chae’s death case and the allegations against First Lady Kim Keon-hee. Some criticized the unipolarity system, but it did not affect the result.

The five-member Supreme Council was also filled with those from the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction. DPK lawmaker Kim Min-seok topped the list with 18.23 percent, followed by Jeon Hyun-hee (15.88 percent), Han Jun-ho (14.14 percent), Kim Byung-joo (13.08 percent), and Lee Eon-joo (12.3 percent). Controversial candidate Chung Bong-ju was eliminated after finishing sixth (11.70 percent).

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.