SEOUL — Lee Jae-myung, the former chairman of South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party (DP), clinched a record-high vote share to secure his second term as the party leader at the national convention held on Sunday. Lee, who previously led the DP, achieved an impressive 85.4 percent of the total votes cast by registered party members across 17 rounds of primaries, which concluded in Seoul on the prior day. His landslide victory over the runner-up, former Interior Minister Kim Doo-gwan, who received 12.12 percent, marked the highest level of support ever recorded for a DP leader at a national convention.
According to Yonhap News Agency, this election result made Lee the second DP chief to serve two consecutive terms, following in the footsteps of Kim Dae-jung, who led the National Congress for New Politics, a precursor to the DP, from 1995-2000 before becoming president. Lee had resigned in June to run for reelection, adhering to the current party rules that mandate resignation from the leadership position to qualify as a candidate. Despite being at the center of various scandals, including a land development scandal in Seongnam, south of Seoul, Lee is also a frontrunner for the liberal party’s presidential candidacy in the 2027 elections.
His reelection comes amid internal calls for new leadership and criticism over his impact on the party’s reputation. Nonetheless, Lee’s decisive victory reflects strong support within the party as he embarks on another two-year term as leader. In 2022, Lee initially won the chairmanship of the DP after narrowly losing the presidential race to President Yoon Suk Yeol.