Kim Min-seok Elected New Democratic Party Leader: Will There Be Policy Shifts on Real Estate and More? (Full Video)

[Anchor]

The national convention to elect the new leadership of the Democratic Party has just concluded. Following a fierce race, Candidate Kim Min-seok secured first place with 54.08% of the vote, winning the election for the new party leader of the Democratic Party. We connect with our reporter at the scene.

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

[Reporter]

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

As expected by many, Candidate Kim Min-seok claimed first place with a final vote share of 54.08%, being elected as the new party leader of the Democratic Party.

Runner-up Candidate Chung Cheong-rae recorded 45.92%, resulting in an 8.16 percentage point margin between the two candidates.

The results combined the rank-and-file member votes from the regional tour primaries held through yesterday, alongside today's delegate votes and public opinion polls. Because Candidate Kim did not secure a majority in the initial count, a ranked-choice voting system—introduced starting at this convention yesterday—was applied to tally the second-choice votes of 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 to ensure the success of the Lee Jae-myung government without leaving anyone behind, discriminated against, or marginalized.

Let us listen.

[Kim Min-seok / New Democratic Party Leader: The party-government relationship will be a creative, horizontal partnership of all-out cooperation supporting the president and the government, who stand at the center of state affairs. We will debate for success, speak unvarnished truth, and serve as a shield...]

Given that tensions heightened during the convention process between pro-Lee Jae-myung and pro-administration factions, as well as over controversies such as the Shincheonji allegations, closing these divides and uniting the party appear to be the first tasks facing Leader Kim.

[Anchor]

The Supreme Council members were also elected today, correct?

[Reporter]

Yes, following the Supreme Council race to select five members, candidates Choe Min-hee, Park Sun-won, Seo Mi-hwa, Lee Sung-yoon, and Han Min-su claimed the top five spots.

There are three Supreme Council members from the pro-administration faction—Choe Min-hee, Lee Sung-yoon, and Han Min-su—and two from the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction—Park Sun-won and Seo Mi-hwa.

Pro-Lee faction candidates Lim Mi-ae and Kim Young-ho declared their support for fellow pro-Lee candidate Kim Yong and dropped out right after yesterday's Seoul-Gyeonggi tour primary, but Candidate Kim Yong ultimately fell short, finishing in sixth place.

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[Anchor]

We will now take a closer look at the results of the Democratic Party national convention with political desk reporter Kim Gwan-jin.

Q. What were the key factors behind new Party Leader Kim Min-seok's victory?

[Reporter Kim Gwan-jin: The turning point of the Democratic Party convention was undoubtedly the Honam primary the day before yesterday. Up until then, it was an ultra-close race with a mere 1 percentage point difference in vote shares, but Candidate Kim Min-seok won a majority in Honam, widening the gap to over 14 percentage points and seizing momentum. The atmosphere was cast with the shadow of defeat, to the extent that even Candidate Chung Cheong-rae lamented that Honam's choice has always been right. Party members in Honam, considered the bedrock of the Democratic Party, are analyzed to have cast their ballots for Kim's message of ending the confrontation between the administration and the party or ensuring stable party-government relations, rather than Chung's call for a reformist party leader, noting that only one year and two months have passed since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung government. However, outside of Honam, Candidate Chung showed a strong performance, and with three pro-administration figures securing seats on the Supreme Council—making up three out of the nine members—projections suggest that the influence of the pro-administration faction to keep Leader Kim in check will persist.]

Q. Will the Democratic Party overcome internal strife following the national convention?

[Reporter Kim Gwan-jin: Looking back at this August 17 national convention, it began with controversies surrounding the concept of unearthing past graves and escalated into emotional confrontations featuring harsh expressions such as betrayal and carp-level IQs, raising concerns and criticism over whether this was effectively a convention of party division. However, given that Candidate Chung himself claims to be truly pro-Lee and has publicly vowed that leaving the party is out of the question for him, the likelihood of divisions spreading as an aftereffect of the convention does not appear high for now. The real issue lies in policy line conflicts. Leader Kim has placed weight on what is called the "New Lee Jae-myung" expansion of horizons—broadening the support base toward centrists and some conservatives, akin to President Lee Jae-myung's structural majority theory. Conversely, Candidate Chung has called for the consolidation and integration of reform-progressive forces, including a merger with the Rebuilding Korea Party. This convention exposed a clash over these differing policy lines, revealing that neither side holds a clear upper hand. Consequently, the possibility that latent conflicts will erupt as the 2028 general election approaches is being anticipated.]

Q. Is there a possibility of policy changes in the Democratic Party after the convention?

[Reporter Kim Gwan-jin: Many observers predict that the new party leadership will maintain the existing policy directions of the Democratic Party while steering the party toward revising or supplementing them when necessary. For instance, regarding the government's tax revision plan, new Leader Kim mentioned during the convention that discussions to fine-tune details are needed, and specifically pointed out that the complete abolition of the long-term holding special deduction for non-resident single homeowners amounts to effectively raising taxes. Regarding the revised Criminal Procedure Act as well, many forecast that if problems arising from the complete abolition of supplementary investigation powers materialize in conjunction with the launch of the Investigation Office and other bodies in October, Kim's leadership will be relatively more flexible regarding discussions on amendments or revisions.]

(Video by Lee Seung-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.