[Anchor]
Four-term lawmaker Kim Min-seok has been elected as the new leader of the Democratic Party to lead it for the next two years. As no candidate secured a majority in the first round, he confirmed his victory through the newly introduced preference voting system. Representative Kim stated that he will make the Democratic Party work hard for the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration.
Reporter Go Jeong-hyeon has the details.
[Reporter]
Four-term lawmaker and former Prime Minister of the first Lee Jae-myung administration, Kim Min-seok, has been elected as the new leader of the Democratic Party.
Representative Kim recorded a final vote share of 54.08%, beating runner-up candidate Jung Chung-rae, who received 45.92%, by a margin of 8.16 percentage points.
As no candidate won a majority in the initial vote count, the party applied the preference voting system newly introduced in this national convention, tallying the second-choice votes chosen by supporters of third-place candidate Song Young-gil to confirm Representative Kim's final victory.
In the public opinion poll, which accounted for 30% of the final result, candidate Jung Chung-rae edged out Representative Kim by obtaining 50.7% compared to Kim's 49.3%, but Representative Kim received more than double the votes in the delegate voting.
The leadership race, which had been a tight contest, is analyzed to have tilted in Representative Kim's favor after he surged more than 14 percentage points ahead of candidate Jung in the Honam primary three days ago.
In his acceptance speech, Representative Kim emphasized a stable party-government relationship and repeatedly stressed the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration.
[Kim Min-seok / Leader, Democratic Party : The party-government relationship will be a creative and horizontal relationship of all-out cooperation supporting the president and the government, who are at the center of state affairs. We will debate, speak bluntly, and serve as a shield for success...]
Representative Kim stated, "I will become a public sentiment channel running alongside candidates Jung Chung-rae and Song Young-gil," but factional conflicts that erupted during the national convention process have put his leadership for unity to the test.
Regarding Representative Kim's election, the People Power Party stated, "We will always extend a hand for cooperation concerning people's livelihoods and national interests," while also adding, "Depending on Representative Kim's choices, the Democratic Party could remain a ruling party dedicated to shielding President Lee Jae-myung."
(Photo: Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing: Jang Hyun-ki)
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