Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok will declare his candidacy for leader of the Democratic Party in Gwangju and Seoul on Friday, opening the campaign for the party's Aug. 17 national convention, now just over a month away. With Kim's entry, former party leader Jung Chung-rae and Rep. Song Young-gil, who had kept low profiles after Jung stepped down as leader, are also expected to declare their candidacies in succession, putting the leadership race on a full track.
According to political circles, Kim will pay his respects at the May 18 National Cemetery on Friday morning before making his first candidacy declaration at Jeonil Building 245 in Gwangju. In the afternoon, he plans to hold another candidacy press conference at the National Assembly's communications hall in Yeouido, Seoul, to unveil his vision as party leader and his ideas for state affairs. The "two-track candidacy declaration" linking Gwangju and Seoul is seen as a move aimed simultaneously at party sentiment and public sentiment.
Choosing Gwangju as his first stop is read as a strategic move to secure the party base in the Honam region while highlighting the Democratic Party's historical significance and legitimacy. Jeonil Building 245, the site of the candidacy declaration, is a symbolic space where traces remain from helicopter fire by martial law troops during the May 18 Democratization Movement. The choice is seen as conveying a message that he will place democratic values and Honam identity front and center. Kim is expected to court the Honam party base, a key battleground where about one-third of the party's dues-paying members are concentrated, while also emphasizing his commitment to supporting the Lee Jae-myung administration's governance.
Holding a separate press conference in Seoul is interpreted as a strategy to go beyond appealing to Honam sentiment and to highlight his vision for state affairs and nationwide leadership as a candidate for leader of the ruling party. Kim is expected to emphasize his standing as "the leader who can most stably support the government" by connecting his experience as the Lee Jae-myung administration's first prime minister with future agendas such as the "three mega projects" and the "AI Democratic Party."
With Kim's preemptive entry, the pace of his rivals is also expected to quicken.
Jung, who has recently continued behind-the-scenes activities including closed-door schedules in the Honam region, is focusing on a public opinion campaign toward hardline supporters while deliberating over the timing and location of his official candidacy declaration. Jung visited the birthplace of former President Kim Dae-jung on Haui Island in Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, on Wednesday, and on Thursday paid his respects at the grave of former President Roh Moo-hyun in Bongha Village, Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, emphasizing the party's legitimacy.
Jung posted a photo of a guestbook on social media in which he wrote, "Roh-jjang, I miss you painfully," pledging prosecution reform, the completion of a one-person-one-vote system, and the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration. In particular, targeting party members' votes, he highlighted his clarity of stance, saying, "Who led and who opposed the one-person-one-vote party member sovereignty system? Who led the full abolition of supplementary investigative authority?"
Jung's adjustment of the timing of his candidacy declaration is not unrelated to the early battle for momentum. Analysts say his strategy is to wait for the moment when party sentiment shifts by putting the reform agenda forward, rather than hastily countering while attention is focused on Kim's candidacy. Inside and outside the Democratic Party, it is widely believed that Jung is also likely to officially declare his candidacy this week.
Rep. Song is also weighing the timing of his entry and preparing to join the race. Song focused on meeting residents of his constituency on Friday without any particular public schedule. He also raised his profile by continuing policy messages through social media, including on the Lee Jae-myung administration's fostering of the aerospace industry.
Song's side said, "The candidacy press conference is likely next week, but it could change depending on the timing of Jung's candidacy," adding, "The mood is to set the schedule after Jung's candidacy declaration." Given that Song recently threw a check pitch at Jung by mentioning his past opposition to the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, the intensity of his offensive is expected to rise further after his full-fledged entry.
Meanwhile, this national convention is expected to unfold as an air-war centered on public opinion campaigns rather than shows of force through large-scale camps. This is because the introduction of the "one-person-one-vote party member system" (70 percent delegates and dues-paying members, 30 percent general public opinion poll), which abolishes delegate weighting and grants equal vote value to all party members, has effectively neutralized the mobilization of organized votes through the existing "lawmaker corps" and the influence of delegates.
Accordingly, leadership contenders are expected to avoid forming lawmaker-centered "mammoth camps" and instead engage in direct public opinion campaigns through social media and debates. A concern is that as they focus on public opinion campaigns, excessive emphasis on clarity of stance could emerge, including legitimacy contests heading toward grave-exhumation controversy, competition to preempt reform issues, and factional line battles.
