The Democratic Party of Korea, after quickly wrapping up nominations for provincial and metropolitan chief executives for the June 3 local elections — ending with the announcement of its Jeju governor candidate on April 18 — is also moving fast to pick candidates for the by-elections being held the same day.
With many of the contests taking place in districts previously held by the party, the DPK aims to complete nominations by the first week of May to maximize candidates’ time on the campaign trail.
As of April 24, the party had made strategic nominations for attorney Jeon Tae-jin (Ulsan Nam-gu A), Song Young-gil (Incheon Yeonsu A) and Kim Nam-jun, a former Blue House spokesperson (Incheon Gyeyang B). Song and Kim, whose nominations were confirmed the previous day, attended an on-site Supreme Council meeting in Incheon’s Yeonsu district on April 24.
Hwang Hee, chair of the party’s strategic nomination committee, told reporters at the National Assembly the previous day that “there isn’t much time until the election.” Secretary-General Cho Seung-rae said the party must finish nominations by the first week of May, adding that the committee would meet “almost every day” to narrow down and decide on candidates.
The party said it is trying to move quickly while keeping screening careful, using three tracks: recruiting new talent, promoting from within and reassigning well-known figures. It described Jeon as a recruited talent, Kim as an internal pick and Song as a reassignment.
Attention is also focused on possible nominations for Lee Kwang-jae, a former Gangwon governor; Ha Jeong-woo, senior secretary for AI future planning; Kim Yong, deputy head of the Democratic Research Institute; and party spokesperson Kim Nam-guk.
Jeong has praised Lee’s “party first” spirit and said he should be given a chance, and has repeatedly urged Ha to run. Lee has been mentioned as a potential candidate in Gyeonggi’s Hanam A district, and Ha in Busan’s Buk-gu A district. Kim Yong has asked the party for a nomination, and Kim Nam-guk has said he intends to run in Ansan A.
The by-elections are expected to be held in as many as 14 districts when vacancies tied to President Lee Jae-myung’s inauguration, the resignation of presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik, districts where an election was invalidated, and additional seats vacated by lawmakers resigning to run in local elections are combined. Of those, 13 were DPK-held districts.
Under the Public Official Election Act, first-half by-elections cover vacancies confirmed by April 30. Because the deadline for incumbent lawmakers to resign in order to run in local elections is May 4, some have suggested resignations could be delayed.
However, Jeong has repeatedly asked eight people selected as the DPK’s provincial and metropolitan chief executive candidates to resign together on April 29. In the People Power Party, one of Reps. Choo Kyung-ho and Yoo Young-ha is expected to be confirmed as the party’s Daegu mayoral candidate on April 26, after a runoff. With Daegu considered a conservative stronghold, there is speculation the winner will resign before April 30.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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