[Anchor]
Political reporter Kim Kwan-jin joins us to take a closer look at the results of the Democratic Party's national convention.
Q. What was the key to newly elected leader Kim Min-seok's victory?
[Reporter Kim Kwan-jin : The turning point of the Democratic Party convention was undoubtedly the Honam primary held the day before yesterday (August 15). Up until then, it was an ultra-close race with just a 1 percentage point difference in vote shares. However, candidate Kim Min-seok secured a majority in Honam, widening the gap to over 14 percentage points and sealing his victory. The atmosphere was clouded by defeat to the extent that even candidate Chung Chung-rae remarked that Honam's choice was always right. Analysts suggest that party members in Honam, considered the stronghold of the Democratic Party, cast their votes in favor of Kim's call for ending the confrontation between pro-Lee Jae-myung and pro-Chung factions or stabilizing party-government relations, rather than Chung's pitch for a reform-minded party leader, especially given that only one year and two months have passed since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration. Nevertheless, outside of Honam, candidate Chung performed strongly, and three pro-Chung figures secured seats on the Supreme Council—making up three of the nine Supreme Council members. This leads to observations that the influence of the pro-Chung faction to keep party leader Kim Min-seok in check will persist.]
Q. Will the Democratic Party overcome internal strife following the convention?
[Reporter Kim Kwan-jin : Looking back at this August 17 national convention, it began with the so-called grave-digging theory and descended into emotional confrontations accompanied by harsh expressions such as "traitor" and "crucian carp IQ," sparking concerns and criticisms that it was practically a convention for party division. However, given that candidate Chung proclaimed himself to be pro-Lee and publicly vowed that there would be no leaving the party in his dictionary, the possibility of divisions spreading as an aftereffect of the convention does not appear high for now. The real issue is the ideological conflict. While candidate Kim has focused on what he calls the "New Lee Jae-myung" expansion of horizons—broadening the support base toward the political center and some conservative demographics, akin to President Lee Jae-myung's structural majority theory—candidate Chung has called for the consolidation and integration of reform-progressive forces, including a merger with the Rebuilding Korea Party. This ideological difference clashed during the convention, and since it revealed that neither side holds a decisive upper hand, observers predict that latent conflicts could erupt as the 2028 general elections draw closer.]
Q. Is there a possibility of policy shifts in the Democratic Party after the convention?
[Reporter Kim Kwan-jin : Many analysts expect the new party leadership to lead the party in a direction that maintains the existing policy stance of the Democratic Party while modifying or supplementing it when necessary. For instance, regarding the government's tax reform proposals, newly elected leader Kim mentioned during the convention that discussions for fine-tuning details are necessary, specifically pointing out that the complete abolition of the long-term holding special deduction for non-resident single homeowners amounts to a tax hike. Regarding the revised Criminal Procedure Act, if problems arising from the complete abolition of supplementary investigation rights materialize in tandem with the launch of the Prosecution Service and other bodies in October, many expect the Kim leadership to be relatively more flexible regarding discussions on amendments or revisions.]
(Video by Lee Seung-jin)
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