The Democratic Party of Korea will kick off its second week of the primary race in earnest on the 8th by holding joint campaign rallies in Jeju and Incheon. Following a neck-and-neck race in the first week of the primary, where candidate Jung Cheong-rae (45.51%) and candidate Kim Min-seok (44.52%) were separated by a margin of just 0.99 percentage points, attention is focused on whether the tight competition between the two candidates will continue in the Jeju and Incheon regions.

[Primary Schedule and Voting Method] Joint campaign rallies will be held on the afternoon of the 8th at Heritage Jeju in Jeju and Namdong Gymnasium in Incheon. Party leadership candidates Song Young-gil, Jung Cheong-rae, and Kim Min-seok, along with Supreme Council candidates Choi Min-hee, Kim Yong, Kim Young-ho, Seo Mi-hwa, Han Min-soo, Lee Sung-yoon, Park Sun-won, and Im Mi-ae, will attend to present their political platforms.

The voting results for the Jeju and Incheon region party members with voting rights will be disclosed immediately after the conclusion of the Incheon joint rally. Voting in these regions was conducted online on the 4th and 5th, and via ARS (automated response system) on the 6th and 7th. Jeju and Incheon, which account for approximately 6.6% of all eligible party members, are considered a crucial turning point ahead of the upcoming primaries in the Honam region and the Seoul metropolitan area. The Democratic Party will continue its primary tour in the Gangwon and Daegu-North Gyeongsang regions on the 9th.

[Jung and Kim Set for Another Close Battle Following Chungcheong and Yeongnam] In the first week of the primary tour, candidate Jung Cheong-rae narrowly led candidate Kim Min-seok by a margin of 0.99 percentage points. This is the result of yet another fierce contest between the two candidates, following the earlier primaries in the Chungcheong region and the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang region.

Candidate Jung is emphasizing the achievements of prosecutorial and media reforms he pursued during his previous tenure as party leader, working to consolidate his strong supporter base. Meanwhile, candidate Kim is countering by highlighting his experience as the first Prime Minister under the Lee Jae-myung administration, positioning himself as the right person for party-government cooperation.

[Candidate Song Young-gil Aims for Rebound Based on Incheon Regional Stronghold] The regional vote share of candidate Song Young-gil, who previously served as a six-term lawmaker and mayor of Incheon, is also a key point of interest. Candidate Song recorded a vote share of 9.97% in the earlier primaries in the Chungcheong region and the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang region. Attention is focused on whether he can boost his vote share in this primary in his hometown, leveraging his regional base.

[Voting System Information] The party leadership election is conducted using a preferential voting system. If no candidate receives a majority in the first round of voting, the second-choice votes from ballots where the lowest-ranked candidate was selected as the first choice will be redistributed to the top two candidates to determine the final winner. The Supreme Council election is conducted using a limited voting method in which voters select two candidates, and the top five vote-getters are elected.