DPK Remains Undecided on National Convention Rules; Final Decision Expected Tonight

The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) discussed whether to introduce a preferential voting system for the party leader election at the August 17 national convention during its Supreme Council meeting this morning (July 10), but failed to reach a conclusion.

The party has decided to reconvene the Supreme Council tonight to deliberate on the issue and finalize a decision.

Chief Spokesperson Kang Jun-hyeon met with reporters at the National Assembly after this morning's Supreme Council meeting and stated, "We were unable to reach a conclusion regarding the primary methods for electing the party leader and Supreme Council members, as well as the election method for the youth Supreme Council member."

"Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader Han Byung-do stated that he would reach a conclusion in some form today," Kang said. "While the exact time has not been set, we will hold another Supreme Council meeting tonight to make a decision."

The preferential voting system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference on their ballots. If no candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the second-preference votes from those ballots are redistributed to determine the final winner.

The National Convention Preparatory Committee held a meeting yesterday and decided to maintain its previous decision to introduce the preferential voting system for the party leader election.

The committee had previously decided to use the preferential voting system for the party leader election, but revisited the issue after the camp of former party leader Jung Chung-rae, a contender for the party leadership, argued that it might violate party constitution and regulations.

Decisions made by the preparatory committee must be finalized through the Supreme Council and the Party Affairs Committee. However, the Supreme Council meeting held this morning failed to reach a conclusion due to disagreements among the leadership.

Supreme Council member Hwang Myeong-seon, who is considered pro-Lee Jae-myung, criticized the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction during the meeting, stating, "The preferential voting system is one of the runoff voting methods adopted at the national convention a year ago, and it is now being challenged simply because it is perceived as disadvantageous to a specific candidate."

On the other hand, Supreme Council member Moon Jeong-bok, who is considered pro-Jung Chung-rae, countered Hwang's argument, saying, "Party regulations clearly distinguish between preferential voting and runoff voting, and specify runoff voting as the method for determining the winner of the party leader election."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.