Democratic Convention: Kim Min-seok, Jeong Cheong-rae in Nail-biter with 1% Point Margin

In the results of the first week of the Chungcheong and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) primaries for the Democratic Party of Korea convention on August 3, 2026, candidates Kim Min-seok and Jeong Cheong-rae engaged in a razor-thin race with a cumulative vote difference of just 0.99 percentage points. In the Chungcheong region, candidate Kim secured first place with 45.05% of the vote, narrowly edging out candidate Jeong, who recorded 44.61%, by a margin of about 300 votes. Meanwhile, candidate Jeong took the lead in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions. In the Supreme Council election, the race for the top five spots was intense, with three members from Chairman Lee Jae-myung's faction (pro-Myeong group) and two members from candidate Jeong Cheong-rae's faction (pro-Cheong group) entering the winning zone.

President Lee Jae-myung, who has returned from an overseas tour, faces major pending issues alongside the fierce intraparty primary results, namely the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act (including the abolition of prosecutors' investigative powers) passed at the National Assembly. While the opposition party is urging the exercise of a veto on the revision, the ruling party is responding by finalizing a schedule for public explanation sessions regarding the bill.

The Supreme Council members elected in this convention will officially begin their duties through an inauguration ceremony on the 4th. Attention is focused on the future roles and authority of the Supreme Council members assigned to the newly created positions and the impact they will have on the party's internal structure.