Kim Min-seok Elected as New Democratic Party Leader With 54.08% of Votes

[Anchor]

The Democratic Party's national convention to elect its new leadership has just concluded. After a fierce race, candidate Kim Min-seok claimed first place with 54.08% of the vote, securing his victory as the new leader of the Democratic Party. Let's connect with our reporter at the scene.

Reporter Park Yerim, please give us the results of the convention.

[Reporter]

Yes, I am here at the Daejeon Convention Center, where the Democratic Party convention just ended.

As expected without surprises, candidate Kim Min-seok secured first place with a final vote share of 54.08%, being elected as the new party leader.

Runner-up candidate Jung Chung-rae received 45.92%, making the gap between the two candidates 8.16 percentage points.

The results combined the nationwide tour primary votes cast for rank-and-file party members up until yesterday (August 16), along with today's delegate votes and public opinion polls. Because candidate Kim did not secure a majority in the initial count, a preferential voting system introduced starting at yesterday's convention was applied. This combined the second-choice votes from supporters of third-place candidate Song Young-gil to determine the final winner.

In his acceptance speech, new Party Leader Kim Min-seok emphasized that he would run together with party members without leaving anyone behind, discriminated against, or marginalized, to ensure the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration.

Let's listen.

[Kim Min-seok / New Democratic Party Leader: The relationship between the party and the presidential office will be a creative, horizontal relationship of all-out cooperation supporting the president and the government, which are at the center of state affairs. We will debate for success, offer candid advice, and act as a shield...]

As conflicts heightened during the convention process between pro-Lee Jae-myung factions and pro-Chung factions, as well as controversies surrounding Shincheonji, healing these divisions and uniting the party are expected to be the first major tasks ahead for Leader Kim.

[Anchor]

Supreme Council members were also elected today, right?

[Reporter]

Yes, in the race for the Supreme Council to select five members, candidates Choi Min-hee, Park Sun-won, Seo Mi-hwa, Lee Seong-yun, and Han Min-su took the first through fifth spots.

Among them, three are pro-Chung Supreme Council members—Choi Min-hee, Lee Seong-yun, and Han Min-su—while two are pro-Lee Jae-myung members—Park Sun-won and Seo Mi-hwa.

Although pro-Lee Jae-myung candidates Lim Mi-ae and Kim Young-ho withdrew right after yesterday's Seoul-Gyeonggi regional primary following their endorsement of fellow pro-Lee candidate Kim Yong, candidate Kim Yong ultimately finished in sixth place and failed to make the cut.

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