Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Chung Chung-rae appointed Rep. Kang Jun-hyun (second-term, Sejong City-eul) as chief spokesperson on Monday. The appointment follows the resignation of former Chief Spokesperson Park Soo-hyun, who stepped down to run for South Chungcheong Province governor in the June 3 local elections.
Party Secretary-General Cho Seung-rae announced the appointment to reporters after a field supreme council meeting held in South Jeolla Province.
"Rep. Kang currently serves as chairman of the Sejong City party chapter. He has tremendous strengths in communication and rapport-building, making him the right person to engage with the media," Cho said.
Rep. Kim Ki-pyo was named as the new party spokesperson. "Rep. Kim, as a former lawyer, has great strengths in analyzing issues logically and clearly," Cho said.
The supreme council also finalized the candidate selection process for the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City mayoral race. A preliminary primary with 100% party member voting will be followed by a main primary reflecting 50% party member votes and 50% public polling.
The main primary will include the top five candidates from the preliminary round among eight preliminary candidates. A runoff will be held if no candidate secures a majority in the main primary.
The supreme council rejected the nomination management committee's proposal to introduce a citizen nomination jury system for the main primary. Instead, it decided to adopt a "policy jury" system for evaluating preliminary candidates' policy platforms.