Song Young-gil, a candidate for the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed skepticism about the need to oppose the recently approved preferred voting system. He stated, "President Lee Jae-myung also posted on X (formerly Twitter) that it was his initiative, so I wonder if there was really a need to oppose it."
During a press briefing at a party meeting on the same day, Song remarked, "The preferred voting system passed as I argued it would."
He added, "If no candidate receives a majority of votes at the party convention on August 17, we will have to vote again a week later in the heat of summer. It won't be easy to secure a time and place for that." He emphasized that if a one-on-one matchup occurs in the runoff, it could lead to intense competition between candidates.
Earlier that day, the party's Supreme Council approved the preferred voting system. In response, Lee Seong-yun, a member of the pro-Lee faction, resigned from his position on the Supreme Council.
The preferred voting system allows voters to list their top three preferred candidates on a single ballot. If a candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes in the first round, they are declared the winner. However, if no candidate achieves a majority, the votes are tallied for subsequent choices to determine the winner. Some analysts suggest this method may favor the pro-Lee faction.
In response, former leader Jung Cheong-rae stated on Facebook that he "accepts it coolly." During the party convention process, Song Young-gil and former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok are seen as working to counter Jung.
Meanwhile, the proposal for a youth supreme committee did not pass the Supreme Council. In relation to this, Song stated, "Regardless of the system, if I become party leader, I will appoint two members from the 2030 generation to the Supreme Committee."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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