DP Election Committee to Hold Plenary Meeting on July 21 to Discuss Additional Deposit Reductions for Youth Candidates

Following growing controversy over the significant increase in registration deposits for the national convention, the Democratic Party has decided to hold a plenary meeting of its Central Election Management Committee the day after tomorrow, July 21, to revisit the issue of deposit reductions for youth candidates.
The meeting is expected to discuss measures such as increasing the reduction rate for youth candidates or having the party subsidize a portion of the deposits.
For this national convention, candidates for party leader and supreme council member must pay a total of 100 million won and 50 million won, respectively, including the deposits required for preliminary primary registration.
A 50 percent reduction is currently applied to youth candidates who do not hold office.
However, criticism has emerged within the party that these amounts are set excessively high compared to 2024, when Lee Jae-myung was party leader, at 40 million won and 15 million won, respectively.
In relation to this, President Lee posted on social media today, stating, "It is regrettable that the deposits for this election have been raised significantly, and in particular, the deposits for youth candidates have increased several-fold, making it difficult for them."
Kim Min-seok, a former Prime Minister and a contender for the Democratic Party leadership, also requested action, stating, "Youth and disabled candidates have to pay 30 million won more for the party leader race and 17.5 million won more for the supreme council member race compared to the Lee Jae-myung era," adding, "The party must take practical measures."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.