The Democratic Party held a leadership election on 29 August 2020. It was the second leadership election since the inauguration of President Moon Jae-in. Although an elected leader serves for the fixed two-year term, the newly elected leader Lee Nak-yon is unlikely to serve for two years due to his presumptive presidential campaign in 2022.

Background

Landslide victory of 2020 General Election In 2020 South Korean General Election, The Democrats, led by Lee Hae-chan, won the majority in the National Assembly by landslide. The Democratic Party and its affiliate Party, Platform Party, won 180 seats (60%) in the 300-seat Assembly. It was the biggest majority since the democratization of South Korea after the June Struggle in 1987. It was an endorsement of President Moon Jae-in's COVID-19 response that got a good reputation worldwide.

Coronavirus Due to the continued impact of COVID-19 pandemic, the Democratic Party National Convention Preparatory Committee decided to hold a national convention online to elect its leadership. The Democratic Party originally planned an event in Jamsil Olympic Stadium in which about 600 members of the Central Committee attended, but it changed to an online event due to concerns about second wave of COVID-19. Eventually, the party decided to allow only about 50 candidates and staff at the Democratic Party's headquarter and broadcast the results of the election as well as the acceptance speech on the Internet on 29 August 2020.

Candidates Candidates for leader

Nominated +#CandidateBornPolitical OfficeCampaignAnnounced1Lee Nak-yon (age )Yeonggwang, South Jeolla41st Prime Minister of South Korea 37th Governor of South Jeolla Member of the National Assembly 지금!이낙연(Now!Lee Nak-yon)7 July 20202Kim Boo-kyum (age )Sangju, North GyeongsangMinister of the Interior and Safety Member of the National Assembly 책임지는 당대표(Responsible Leader)9 July 20203Park Joo-min (age )Seongbuk, SeoulMember of the Democratic Party Supreme Council Member of the National Assembly 국민과 함께 두려움 없이(With the people, fearlessly)21 July 2020

Candidates for Supreme Council Nominated #CandidateBornPolitical OfficeCampaign SloganAnnounced1Shin Dong-kun22 December 1961Seo, IncheonMember of the National Assembly Whip of the Democratic Party Vice Chairman of the Policy Planning Committee 민주당 왼쪽 미드필더(Left Midfielder of Democrats)22 July 20202Yeom Tae-yeong25 July 1960Hwaseong, GyeonggiMayor of Suwon Chairman of the National Association of Mayors 기초가 든든한 100년 민주당(Well-founded century Democrats)20 July 20203Yang Hyang-ja4 April 1967Hwasun, South JeollaMember of the National Assembly Director of the National Human Resources Development Institute Chairwoman of the Democratic National Woman's Committee 한 표는 경제에(One vote for the economy)21 July 20204Han Byung-do7 December 1967Iksan, North JeollaMember of the National Assembly Senior Political Officer of the Office of the President 대통령을 지킬 한 표(One vote to protect the president)21 July 20205So Byeong-hoon3 June 1954Gunsan, North JeollaMember of the National Assembly Vice Chairman of the Policy Planning Committee 소확행(Small but sure Happiness, SSH)21 July 20206Noh Woong-rae3 August 1957Mapo, SeoulMember of the National Assembly Secretary-General of the Democratic Party 무한책임 일편黨心(Infinite commitment, a sincere heart for the party)20 July 20207Lee Won-wook20 March 1962Boryeong, South ChungchoengMember of the National Assembly Whip of the Democratic Party 민주당 답게! 흔들림 없이!(Like a Democrat! Without wavering!)19 July 20208Kim Jong-min12 May 1964Nonsan, South ChungcheongMember of the National Assembly Vice Governor of South Chungcheong Whip of the Democratic Party Vice Chairman of the Policy Planning Committee Spokesman of the Cheong Wa Dae 정권재창출 반드시 해내겠습니다(Make sure to win again)21 July 2020

Eliminated CandidateBornPolitical OfficeCampaign SloganAnnouncedLee Jae-jung2 August 1974DaeguMember of the National Assembly Spokeswoman of the Democratic Party Vice Chairman of the Policy Planning Committee 당신을 빛나게 하는 힘!(The power that makes you shine!)17 July 2020Cheong Kwang-il In the election of the Supreme Council, 10 people were running, so the party had to eliminate 2 candidates and held the final election with the remaining 8 candidates according to the rules. On 24 July 2020, the Democratic Party held a caucus for the election of the party's Supreme Council by on-site and online voting. About 660 members of the Central Committee participated in the vote. As a result of the vote, Lee Won-wook, Noh Woong-rae, Kim Jong-min, So Byeong-hoon, Shin Dong-kun, Han Byung-do, Yang Hyang-ja, and Yeom Tae-yeong were nominated. However, the ranking and number of votes for each candidate were not released. Of the eight nominated candidates, five are finally elected through elections held at the National Assembly on 29 August. In addition, under the party's rule, at least one elected member of the Supreme Council shall be a woman. Yang Hyang-ja was the only remaining female candidate, so she was virtually elected as the Supreme Council member.

Those who announced that they will not run for this election Hong Young-pyo, former floor leader of the party and member of National Assembly Song Young-gil, former mayor of Incheon and member of National Assembly Woo Won-shik, former floor leader of the party and member of National Assembly

Debates

Televised debates No. Date and time Location Programme Broadcaster CandidatesLink Participant    Absent invitee   Out of race (eliminated or withdrawn)   No debateLee Nak-yonKim Boo-kyumPark Joo-min 1; 18:00Daegu민주당 당대표 후보 TV 토론회 (Democratic Leadership Debate)Daegu MBCYouTube 2; 18:20Busan더불어민주당 당대표 후보자 초청 토론회 (Democratic Leadership Debate)Busan MBCYouTube 3; 22:00Jeonju더불어민주당 당대표 후보 토론회 (Democratic Leadership Debate)Jeonju MBCYouTube 4Gwangju더불어민주당 당대표 후보자 초청 토론회 (Democratic Leadership Debate)KBC GwangjuYouTube5; 17:20Daejon더불어민주당 당대표 후보자 초청 토론회 (Democratic Leadership Debate)Daejon MBC6Seoul100분토론 - 더불어민주당 당대표 후보자 토론회 (100 Minute Debate - Democratic Leadership Debate)MBCYouTube7Seoul더불어민주당 당대표 후보자 초청 방송토론회 (Democratic Leadership Debate)KBS1YouTube

Results

The ratio of the results by sector was 45% for delegates, 40% for party members, 10% for opinion poll and 5% for non-voting members poll. +Full result - LeaderCandidatesDelegates (45%)Party members (40%)Opinion poll (10%)Non-voting members poll (5%)Total (100%)Lee Nak-yon57.20%63.73%64.02%62.80%60.77%Kim Boo-kyum29.29%14.76%13.85%18.05%21.37%Park Joo-min13.52%21.51%22.14%19.15%17.85% + Full result - Supreme Council CandidateDelegates (45%)Party members (40%)Opinion poll (10%)Non-voting members poll (5%)Total (100%)Note Kim Jong-min 13.54% 25.47% 23.9%24.08%Senior member Yeom Tae-yeong 16.88% 9.9% 12.29%8.95% Noh Woong-rae 12.29% 12.75% 16.48%17.88%Shin Dong-kun9.62%13.79%16.68%12.98%Yang Hyang-ja7.14%15.56%13.32%15.18%Lee Won-wook17.39%6.93%5.69%5.28%Han Byung-do13.81%9.77%5.69%8.93%So Byeong-hoon9.33%5.84%5.89%6.75%

References