[Lim Mi-ae, Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate]
"This election leaves many regrets, but... I played a role in calling attention to those keeping the 'Democratic Party flag' flying in Daegu and Gyeongbuk"
"Democratic Party's past year of 'reforms aligned with public expectations' gets a failing grade"
"Served as an opportunity to revive the value of a 'nationwide party' that the Democratic Party had forgotten"
"This national convention is far harder than elections in Daegu and Gyeongbuk"
"Ran because I felt a deep need for leadership change... We were not a ruling party in sync with the public"
"Supporting Kim Min-seok? It means Jung Chung-rae's leadership must be replaced... Kim seems likely to lead the party with stability"
"Farming People Power Party supporters came to cheer me on... So grateful"
"My heart aches seeing Democratic Party supporters in Gyeongbuk... Tears come instinctively"
"I didn't intend to enter politics originally... Moved to Gyeongbuk wanting to do farmers' movement"
"Close with Kim Boo-kyum... In local politics, I am his senior"
"I am a stable, trouble-free politician... Received a lot of affection locally"
"Currently ranked 7th, assigned candidate number 8... Even I got confused"
"Having Honam and the Seoul metropolitan area—massive voter bases—vote last is wrong scheduling"
"Ranked 7th now, but 7th until the end? Hard to say... Many people are cheering me on"
"I am a stable candidate with persuasive power even among conservative voters... Most suited for broadening support"
"Must win over rational moderates... I am the right person for this"
"20 years in party life, never seen an election like this... Something to be deeply ashamed of"
"Supreme Council candidates should discuss vision, but only show themselves immersed in factional warfare"
"This national convention is enough to disappoint the public... It must change"
■ Broadcast: SBS Pyun Sang-wook's Direct Hit (FM 103.5 MHz 17:00 ~ 18:00)
■ Date: Thursday, August 13, 2026
■ Host: Pyun Sang-wook, SBS Anchor
■ Guest: Lim Mi-ae, Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate (Democratic Party Lawmaker)
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: They say this summer is the hottest on record. The Democratic Party is also hot. We meet Democratic Party Supreme Council candidate Lim Mi-ae, who is going through the hottest national convention primary ever. Welcome.
[Lim Mi-ae]: Hello. I am Supreme Council candidate number 8.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Candidate Lim, looking back, the primary is almost coming to an end, isn't it?
[Lim Mi-ae]: That's right. If voting continues through tomorrow (August 14).
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: How did you view this primary process?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Overall, I am someone who is doing this kind of election for the first time. I lived in a region where party support was very weak, so looking back, there are many regrets. But through this process, I think I have played a sufficient role in drawing attention and raising awareness for those who have long held up and defended the Democratic Party flag in Daegu and Gyeongbuk. And it became an opportunity for people to once again realize the value that the Democratic Party had forgotten—the value of advancing toward a truly nationwide party.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Compared to when you ran for governor in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, which is barren ground for the Democratic Party, is this election harder or easier?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Much harder.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Much harder?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Gyeongbuk is a place I know well, and wherever I go, I have no fear. Since I know what Gyeongbuk's political landscape is like, I wasn't particularly flustered. But here, it's party members and other regions. And as you get into it, you realize how much of it is about organization. You can see how organized party members move, and experiencing that for the first time—we've never run an organized campaign before—makes a huge difference.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: In that case, why did you decide to run for the Supreme Council election?
[Lim Mi-ae]: First of all, after the local elections ended, I felt strongly that under the current leadership, it would be extremely difficult to lay the foundation for the 2028 general elections and the reelection of the administration in 2030. In short, I deeply felt the need for a leadership change. Many people talk about a winning Democratic Party, but when you look at whether we actually delved deeply into public livelihood issues over the past year to match public expectations while achieving reforms to become a winning party, I would give a near-failing grade. I felt we were not behaving as a ruling party in sync with the public, so I decided to run thinking I could do that job well.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: If you deeply felt the need for a leadership change, are you supporting candidate Kim Min-seok for party leader?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Rather than singling out candidate Kim Min-seok, my stance is that the current leadership must be replaced.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Not candidate Jung Chung-rae?
[Lim Mi-ae]: That's right. So looking at the two, who would be better? Since it's preferential voting, I think someone who has worked in harmony with the President would be much better suited for aligning party and government operations. And since his abilities have been tested, there is an expectation that he will lead the party with stability, which is why I take that position.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Candidate Lim, your speeches at joint address sessions attract attention every time. People say your sincerity really comes through. Do you write them yourself?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Yes, while thinking about what to say when visiting a specific region and what kind of people will come.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Especially on the day of the Daegu joint address session. It became a hot topic on YouTube, so we prepared video and audio for our YouTube, visual radio, and audio listeners. Let's watch for a moment and then continue our conversation.
[Lim Mi-ae]: It's embarrassing, right?
[Lim Mi-ae]: But you even shed tears, and I could really feel your sincerity. You shed tears while saying, "Let's win an election where we say we won because of Daegu and Gyeongbuk." What was that situation?
[Lim Mi-ae]: When I arrived by car at the Daegu joint address venue and got out, farmers from my region were waiting there. But those people are actually not Democratic Party members. Farmers from Cheongsong came, and most of them are People Power Party members. Just before that, during the Gangwon-do campaign as well, fishermen from that region and from Yeongdeok and Pohang who were very close to the People Power Party came to cheer me on. So I was deeply grateful. Nobody pays them; spending their own money and time to come makes me so thankful. And I felt a strong desire to show these people what the Democratic Party is about, and how much the Democratic Party cares about their lives and tries to work for them through this national convention. In truth, past conventions didn't address such agendas, which was regrettable. But on that day, when I look at people doing Democratic Party politics in Gyeongbuk, my heart aches a bit. Tears just come out instinctively.
[Lim Mi-ae]: You are a farmer yourself, aren't you?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Yes.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: How much farming are you doing?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Right now I've handed over a lot to others because I can't manage it all at the moment, but...
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: I heard you also raise cattle?
[Lim Mi-ae]: We're keeping the cattle, my husband goes on weekends to take care of them, and with the plum orchard and garlic, it's just enough to make a living.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: You were the student council president at Ewha Womans University back in 1987, right?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Yes.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Then wasn't the immediate predecessor student council president Suh Yeong-kyo, the chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee?
[Lim Mi-ae]: That's correct.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: I attended college in 1987 too, so I know. You could have made a grand debut in central politics as a key figure of the 586 generation. Why did you return to the countryside and decide to farm?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Actually, I was not someone who originally wanted to do politics. After graduating from university and spending a short time at a civic organization, I decided to do the farmers' movement and moved down. Living there, I saw that our region was politically very tilted. So I naturally ended up doing politics with the Democratic Party. If I had intended to do politics from the start, I wouldn't have moved down to Gyeongbuk. I went down with the intention of engaging in the farmers' movement rather than politics, and that led me step by step to where I am today.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: I get the feeling you are quite close with candidate Kim Boo-kyum?
[Lim Mi-ae]: We are close.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Right? You share many things in common?
[Lim Mi-ae]: When I was in college, I worked part-time at a bookstore run by his wife's elder sister. And when he moved down in 2014 and ran in Daegu, he lost back then. In those terms, my husband ran for the National Assembly in 2004, and I have been doing local politics since 2006, so in local politics, I am his senior.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: That's true.
[Lim Mi-ae]: So after he lost, I went to visit him. We ate jjajangmyeon together and talked about various things.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Running for governor under the Democratic Party banner in places like Gyeongbuk, it's hard to get even 15%. But you received more than that and even got your campaign expenses reimbursed. What was the secret?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Earlier, during the gubernatorial election under the Moon Jae-in administration, we got around 30%. That was when we were the ruling party. But running as an opposition party was actually extremely difficult. In 2022, right after losing the presidential election, there was no candidate for the gubernatorial race, so I was suddenly strategically nominated. I managed to get 22%, which was a disappointing result for me personally, but people evaluated it as a good fight given the current political environment. Having lived in Gyeongbuk for a long time and practicing Democratic Party politics in Uiseong, one of the most conservative towns,
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: That's where you do garlic farming, right?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Yes. So what attitude to adopt when talking with local voters, and what agendas to discuss with them—that has become second nature to me. So rather than being an unpredictable politician, in that respect, I am one of those stable politicians who doesn't cause trouble. And people in the region treated me with a lot of affection.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: However, looking at the voting results for the Supreme Council election released so far, you are outside the top five.
[Lim Mi-ae]: I'm in 7th place, 7th place. Sometimes I mix it up with my candidate number—whether I'm number 7 in 8th place or number 8 in 7th place.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: You'll need to make up ground quickly.
[Lim Mi-ae]: But right now, I think our national convention schedule was set up wrong.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Starting from Chungcheong Province?
[Lim Mi-ae]: With 72% of voters still remaining and a 30% public opinion poll left, they should have scheduled Honam in the middle or the Seoul metropolitan area in the middle to reset the overall picture. But they placed Honam and the Seoul metropolitan area—which have massive voter bases—at the very end. So a situation arose where the votes from regions that account for only 28% of turnout dictate the sentiment of the remaining 72%. In any case, I think the schedule was wrong. So just because I am in 7th place now, will the situation stay 7th place until the end? You can't guarantee that.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Because 70% remains?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Yes. Because when I went to Honam and met party members, many of them told me, "That's how the Democratic Party should be." Looking at the text messages I receive, quite a lot of people seem to be supporting me.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Do you think that after watching today's (August 13) broadcast of <Pyun Sang-wook's Direct Hit>, your support will grow explosively?
[Lim Mi-ae]: Yes, I do.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: In that case, I'll give you about one minute to speak about Lim Mi-ae's strengths.
[Lim Mi-ae]: As I mentioned earlier, my strength is that I am a candidate who brings stability and has the greatest power of persuasion even among conservative voters. Therefore, when it comes to expanding the Democratic Party's reach, I can serve in the leadership best suited for that role. What we must do first for a winning Democratic Party—if you look at last year's presidential election results, we got 25% and 23% in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, while getting 85% in Honam. Even if the democratic and progressive camps unite tightly to run in a presidential election, we have a very precarious and unstable political landscape when it comes to winning. So ultimately, the path to stable governance retention down the road requires pulling rational moderates to our side, not just in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, and that role is needed more than anything. I believe I am the most qualified person to do that work.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Even the Supreme Council election has gotten entangled in factional warfare over who gets in—to put it simply, how many pro-Jung or pro-Myung faction members make it in has become a crucial battle, hasn't it?
[Lim Mi-ae]: But in my 20 years of party life, there has never been an election like this.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: Right, I think it's the first time I'm seeing this too.
[Lim Mi-ae]: I think this is something to be deeply ashamed of. Also, it is extremely rare for messages released at the beginning of a national convention to persist all the way to the end. After reflections are made, candidate speeches in subsequent stages should discuss their own vision. Yet all the Supreme Council candidates at this convention are showing themselves immersed only in factional fighting. Does it make common sense to the public that the leading party, holding well over 160 seats as a ruling party, conducts a national convention like this? So I feel the overall state of this convention is enough to give the public disappointment. That's why it must change. In the final speech sessions, not only party leader candidates but also Supreme Council candidates must take responsibility for the messages they deliver. There has never been a case where factional fighting dragged on like this to the very end.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: If Lawmaker Lim Mi-ae becomes a Supreme Council member, how will you reshape the Democratic Party? You have 20 seconds left to explain.
[Lim Mi-ae]: This morning (August 13), I posted on Facebook that we must engage in a policy direction debate. People talk about bold reform and relentless reform, but for a ruling party, reform gains strength only when carried out together with the people, rather than just talking centered on reform for its own sake. A self-satisfying reform disconnected from the public is unacceptable for a ruling party. So while the Democratic Party professes reform, I want to play my part in achieving reform that fits the public and aligns with public expectations.
[Anchor Pyun Sang-wook]: So far, we have been with Lawmaker Lim Mi-ae, candidate for Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea. While you were speaking, many comments saying "I love you" and "I support you" were posted. Just letting you know.
[Lim Mi-ae]: Thank you.
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