World News

South Korea's ruling party elects a former prime minister as leader on its first ranked choice count

By Staff Writer  |  18 August 2026

Kim Min-seok took 54.08 per cent against 45.92 per cent for the outgoing chairman after a six week ballot that had to go to second preferences. He now controls candidate selection for the 2028 general election.

South Korea's governing Democratic Party of Korea has elected Kim Min-seok as its leader, closing a six week internal ballot that had to be settled on second preferences. The result was announced at the party's national convention in Daejeon on Monday. Mr Kim, a four term member of the National Assembly, served as prime minister from July 2025 until June this year.

With the president's approval rating falling and the ruling bloc facing an overall crisis, the leadership race is unfolding almost like a confidence vote in the president

Eom Kyeong-young, director of the Zeitgeist Institute

He took 54.08 per cent of the combined vote against 45.92 per cent for Jung Chung-rae, the outgoing chairman, who was seeking a further term. Neither cleared half on first preferences under the combined count of members, delegates and an opinion survey, so the party ran a ranked choice count for the first time in its history. Second preferences from the backers of the third candidate, Song Young-gil, were redistributed between the two.

How the count worked

Voting ran in regional waves from 1 August. More than 1.52 million dues paying members were eligible and 50.35 per cent of them voted over three weeks. Delegates voted on the day itself: more than 17,000 of them, at a turnout of 80.98 per cent. Members and delegates carry 70 per cent of the weight between them and a national opinion survey carries the remaining 30 per cent.

The decisive round came on 15 August in Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces, which hold about a third of the party's membership. Mr Kim took 57.54 per cent there against 32.65 per cent, and moved into a lead he did not lose.

The leadership runs for two years, which places Mr Kim in charge of candidate selection for the general election due in 2028. Five seats on the party's nine member Supreme Council were also filled on Monday. Choi Min-hee, aligned with the outgoing chairman, topped that poll with 18.35 per cent and becomes the council's senior elected member.

What the result settles, and what it does not

The contest was read throughout as a test of how far President Lee Jae Myung has consolidated his position inside the party he leads in government. Mr Kim campaigned on closer coordination with the presidential office, arguing that friction between party and administration damages both. The outgoing chairman had at times pushed back against the office over the pace of judicial change.

Approval ratings for the president and the party have weakened in recent weeks. Figures have been reported but rest on unattributed sources, and are left out here.

The division inside the party has not gone with the vote. Two of the five successful Supreme Council candidates are aligned with the defeated camp, and Mr Jung, who apologised to his supporters after the count, retains a following of his own. In his acceptance speech Mr Kim said he would seek a relationship with the presidential office that was supportive and at the same time, in his phrase, creatively horizontal, and said he would bring his defeated rivals in.

He left the convention for Geoje, in South Gyeongsang Province, to meet residents of an area hit by torrential rain. The president is due to host him, Mr Jung and Mr Song at the presidential office on Wednesday, at a dinner his chief spokesperson, Kang Yu-jung, said was designed to "strengthen cooperation between the party and the administration".