DP supporters favor Prime Minister Kim as next party leader: Poll

Democratic Party (DP) supporters favor Prime Minister Kim Min-seok as the next party chief over former DP leaders Jung Chung-rae and Song Young-gil ahead of the party’s convention scheduled for August, according to an opinion poll released on Friday.

In the Gallup Korea poll of 409 people who identified as DP supporters, conducted from Tuesday to Thursday, 45 percent supported Kim, 24 percent backed Jung and 15 percent favored Song.

Kim, who tendered his resignation from his current position on June 7, is reportedly set to run for the DP leader.

Kim said on June 7 that the DP “must become a strong party that can deliver both economic growth and democracy if it is to achieve its three goals: a successful administration, winning the general elections [in 2028] and staying in power.”

Kim has served as the first prime minister under the liberal Lee Jae Myung administration, which launched on June 4 of last year. Kim is also a four-term lawmaker, having last won a seat in the National Assembly as a DP lawmaker in 2024.

Jung, meanwhile, became the DP leader on Aug. 2 last year and oversaw the June 3 local elections, which ended with the ruling party winning 12 of 16 mayoral and gubernatorial elections.

Following the DP’s landslide victory in the local elections, Jung — a four-term lawmaker — resigned as party leader on Wednesday, a move widely seen as paving the way for his re-election bid. Under Korean party rules, Jung must resign from the leadership post before he can register as a candidate to run for the position again at the national convention.

Song is a six-term lawmaker and returned to the National Assembly after winning a parliamentary by-election on June 3. He also served as DP leader from May 2021 to March 2022.

The new DP leader will have the authority to nominate candidates for the 2028 general elections. 

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]