Democratic Party Risks Alienating Youth as 'Anti-Lee' Factionalism Deepens

The preliminary convention for the Democratic Party leadership and Supreme Council elections has begun, with five candidates for party leader and 14 for the Supreme Council competing to advance to the final round. Amid this process, the selection of a new leadership capable of overcoming the alienation of young voters and internal factionalism has emerged as a critical challenge.

Jung Min-chul, a preliminary candidate for the Supreme Council, diagnosed that the Democratic Party has become a party shunned by the younger generation. He specifically pointed out a growing tendency among women in their 20s and 30s to dislike the party.

Candidate Jung attributed the cause of this situation to defeat in the 'culture war.' He argued that while the People Power Party and the far-right utilized video content and framing to demonize the Democratic Party, his party left a vacuum on this daily front, resulting in a repeated disadvantageous structure where party members were forced to respond individually through fact-checking.