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Former South Korean prime minister Kim Min-seok is elected as the new leader of the Democratic Party with 54.08% of the vote against its former leader Jung Chung-rae.
Confirmed
Published : Aug. 17, 2026 - 19:40:36 Updated : Aug. 17, 2026 - 21:00:08 DAEJEON ― Rep. Kim Min-seok, a four-term lawmaker and former prime minister, won the ruling Democratic Party of Korea leadership on Monday, strengthening President Lee Jae Myung’s support base in the party.
Still, Kim Min-seok will exercise his majority power in the decision-making body, as the Supreme Council consists of the party chair, the floor leader, five elected members and two members appointed by Kim himself. Kim, a four-term lawmaker, won 54.08 percent of the final vote announced at the party’s national convention in Daejeon, defeating Jung, who took 45.92 percent.
The outcome leaves incoming DP chair Kim Min-seok with a Supreme Council in which lawmakers aligned with his defeated rival hold a majority of the elected seats. Kim also said he would embrace his competitors in the three-way race, including his rival Jung, to overcome concerns from outside the party.
The final regional round, in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province on August 16, went to Kim by a far tighter margin, 46.66 percent to 46.28 percent, pulling his majority back below 50 percent and leaving him with an overall cumulative lead of 49.91 percent to 41.51 percent heading into August 17 and the party’s national convention.
Kim’s campaign speech in July framed the race as a referendum on whether the party would fully back Lee’s agenda, Kim’s strongest results came in Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces and the greater Seoul area after Lee announced an 800 trillion won ($564 billion) semiconductor investment package for the Gwangju region.
Because no rule guarantees a majority winner, the party adopted ranked-choice voting: if no candidate clears 50 percent on first-preference ballots, the last-place finisher is eliminated and votes are reallocated by second choice.
Kim fell short of a first-round majority under the combined count of member, delegate, and opinion-poll votes, triggering the party’s ranked-choice runoff for the first time in its history. Later on Monday, Lee's chief spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a note to reporters that Lee would invite Kim, Jung and Song to Cheong Wa Dae for dinner on Wednesday.
The meeting is designed to "strengthen cooperation between the party and the administration,” Kang said. Shortly after the convention, Kim departed for Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, to meet residents in the area hit by deadly torrential rain, according to the party's senior spokesperson Rep. Park Sung-joon.
What's confirmed
- Still, Kim Min-seok will exercise his majority power in the decision-making body, as the Supreme Council consists of the party chair, the floor leader, five elected members and two members appointed by Kim himself.
- The outcome leaves incoming DP chair Kim Min-seok with a Supreme Council in which lawmakers aligned with his defeated rival hold a majority of the elected seats.
- The final regional round, in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province on August 16, went to Kim by a far tighter margin, 46.66 percent to 46.28 percent, pulling his majority back below 50 percent and leaving him with an overall cumul
- Kim’s campaign speech in July framed the race as a referendum on whether the party would fully back Lee’s agenda, Kim’s strongest results came in Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces and the greater Seoul area after Lee anno
- Because no rule guarantees a majority winner, the party adopted ranked-choice voting: if no candidate clears 50 percent on first-preference ballots, the last-place finisher is eliminated and votes are reallocated by seco
- Kim fell short of a first-round majority under the combined count of member, delegate, and opinion-poll votes, triggering the party’s ranked-choice runoff for the first time in its history.
What's still developing
- Kim, a four-term lawmaker, won 54.08 percent of the final vote announced at the party’s national convention in Daejeon, defeating Jung, who took 45.92 percent.
- Kim fell short of a first-round majority under the combined count of member, delegate, and opinion-poll votes, triggering the party’s ranked-choice runoff for the first time in its history.
- Kim’s campaign speech in July framed the race as a referendum on whether the party would fully back Lee’s agenda, Kim’s strongest results came in Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces and the greater Seoul area after Lee…
- Because no rule guarantees a majority winner, the party adopted ranked-choice voting: if no candidate clears 50 percent on first-preference ballots, the last-place finisher is eliminated and votes are reallocated by…
- The final regional round, in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province on August 16, went to Kim by a far tighter margin, 46.66 percent to 46.28 percent, pulling his majority back below 50 percent and leaving him with an overall…
- The outcome leaves incoming DP chair Kim Min-seok with a Supreme Council in which lawmakers aligned with his defeated rival hold a majority of the elected seats.
- Published : Aug. 17, 2026 - 19:40:36 Updated : Aug. 17, 2026 - 21:00:08 DAEJEON ― Rep. Kim Min-seok, a four-term lawmaker and former prime minister, won the ruling Democratic Party of Korea leadership on Monday,…
- With Monday's victory, Kim will likely gain majority control over the ruling party's nine-member decision-making body, the Supreme Council, pointing to a stronger pro-Lee presence in the liberal party's top…