Democratic Party begins preliminary selections for leadership race

South Korea's Democratic Party commenced preliminary selections on July 21, 2026, initiating the process to choose its next leadership and trim the field of candidates for party leader and supreme council members.

The preliminary selection process, scheduled to conclude on July 23, will first narrow down the contenders. For the party leader position, the field of five candidates will be reduced to three. This decision will be based on a combined score from central committee members (35%), pledged party members (35%), and public opinion polls (30%). The current candidates for party leader are Kim Min-seok, Ko Min-jung, Chung Jin-suk, Kim Bo-mi, and Song Young-gil.

The competition for the supreme council positions is particularly fierce, with 14 candidates competing for eight available seats. The selection for these roles will be determined through online voting, with a 50% weighting from central committee members and 50% from pledged party members. This phase aims to narrow the 14 hopefuls down to eight.

Several candidates in the supreme council race are associated with the party's influential pro-Lee Jae-myung faction. Including those closely aligned with Representative Song Young-gil, the number of pro-Lee Jae-myung candidates for the supreme council could reach ten, indicating a significant concentration of support within this group.