Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Kim Min-seok wins DPK leadership race over Jung Chung-rae
Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok holds the Demogratic Party of Korea's flag after being elected the ruling party's new chairman at its national convention at the Daejeon Convention Center in Daejeon, Monday. Joint Press Corps
By Park Ji-won
Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok won the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) leadership race Monday, edging out former party leader Jung Chung-rae to become the party's next chairman for a two-year term.
Kim, 63, secured 55.94 percent of the vote, or 430,242 votes, at the party's national convention in the Daejeon Convention Center, against Jung's 44.06 percent at 338,809 votes. Neither candidate cleared a majority in the initial count, so the party applied its new preferential voting rules, redistributing second-choice votes from supporters of Song Young-gil, the lowest-placed candidate. With those votes factored in, Kim's cumulative vote share reached 54.08 percent, while Jung finished at 45.92 percent.
The winner was determined by weighting votes from DPK delegates and dues-paying members at 70 percent and a public opinion poll at 30 percent.
This year's race also introduced another change from the last leadership election: delegate votes, once weighted roughly 17 times higher than those of individual dues-paying members, were counted on equal footing with rank-and-file ballots for the first time.
Newly elected Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok, right, hugs former party chair Rep. Jung Chung-rae after defeating him in the party's leadership race at the national convention in Daejeon, Monday. Joint Press Corps
In his acceptance speech, Kim pledged to align smoothly with the Lee Jae Myung administration while stressing that the party will remain closely attuned to people's everyday concerns.
"Starting today, the DPK will evolve beyond its identity as a party of history and democracy to become a party accountable for the livelihoods of people. The relationship between the party, the presidential office and the government will become equal in a creative way that fully backs the president and government at the center of state affairs," Kim said.
"The party will work relentlessly for the success of President Lee and his people-centered administration, because the Lee administration’s success is the people's success."
Stressing that he designed the Lee administration’s growth strategy, Kim unveiled the "DPK ABC Plan," using the first three letters of the alphabet to outline the party's core policy priorities.
"We will become a party focusing on Affordability: Livelihood and living-cost politics; Broad: Big, expanding, additive politics; Competence: Capable, livelihood-focused majority party politics."
After the convention, he headed to Geoje Island in South Gyeongsang Province, where three days of heavy rainfall had triggered landslides, flooding and widespread damage, to inspect the situation on site and meet with flood victims.
In the accompanying Supreme Council election, five lawmakers were elected in order of vote share — Choi Min-hee, who won a second term, followed by first-term lawmakers Park Sun-won, Seo Mi-hwa, Lee Sung-yoon and Han Min-soo. Of the five, Park and Seo are aligned with the pro-Lee faction, while Choi, Lee and Han are seen as Jung loyalists, leaving Kim facing resistance in advancing his policy agenda with three of the five council seats held by the rival faction.
Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok, third from left, celebrates with newly elected Supreme Council members during the party's national convention at the Daejeon Convention Center in Daejeon, Monday. From left are Reps. Han Min-soo. Lee Sung-yoon, Kim, Seo Mi-hwa, Park Sun-won and Choi Min-hee. Joint Press Corps
Kim had been widely expected to secure the party leadership after posting strong showings in most regional primaries, including in key DPK strongholds such as the Jeolla provinces and Seoul.
The opposition People Power Party (PPP) congratulated Kim on his victory, but voiced concern over what it described as the ruling party's "monolithic" hold on power, urging him to treat the PPP as a partner.
"It is deeply worrying whether the DPK can function as a ruling party for the public, considering that he basically declared himself an 'avatar for Lee Jae Myung' to shield the president's legal risks. The PPP is a competitor of the DPK, but also a partner in steering state affairs. We will readily extend a hand of cooperation anytime for the sake of public welfare and the national interest," Rep. Park Sung-hoon, PPP spokesperson, said in a statement.
Experts say the party's split will complicate Kim's ability to govern the party at a time when President Lee Jae Myung's approval ratings remain low.
"Either way, DPK members likely voted for Kim thinking that Lee Jae Myung can't afford to be unstable any further if the DPK want to retain power in the future," Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, said.
"Kim winning via preferential voting is nothing more than a bruised glory ... Although Kim won the leadership, governance will be challenging because the DPK does not operate under a collective leadership system. While there are no obstacles in theory, the opposing faction could nitpick every single issue during Supreme Council meetings."
Another critic said Kim's leadership is a double-edged sword, stressing that his tight alignment with Cheong Wa Dae leaves no political buffer, meaning any government stumbles will trigger direct criticism of the presidency.
"The positive side is that with Kim, the party and the presidential office can act as a unified team. However, because everyone will think the decision came directly from the presidential office ... every message from the party will be viewed as the intention of the presidential office," said political commentator Park Sung-min, founder of MIN Consulting.
Park also stressed that having three pro-Jung figures on the Supreme Council could deal a major blow to the party, as their collective resignation could cause major damage the new leadership.
"If the three quit, the party leadership is gone ... It is clear that the party will inevitably face turmoil one way or another."