The Democratic Party of Korea's Central Election Management Committee finalized the primary schedule for the June 3 local election gubernatorial candidates in Jeonbuk and Jeju provinces on the 10th.
Soh Byung-hoon, chairman of the Central Election Management Committee, met with reporters after a meeting at the party's headquarters in Yeouido and announced, "Both Jeonbuk and Jeju regions will hold their main primaries over three days from April 8 to 10."
If no candidate secures a majority in the main primaries in either region, a runoff election will be held from April 16 to 18.
The main primary combines 50% party member votes with 50% ARS (automated response system) polling. The ARS polling targets party supporters and independents, excluding registered Democratic Party members.
The committee also announced the schedule for joint debates for the Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special metropolitan city mayor election. The committee plans to divide eight candidates into two groups of four and hold debates on April 17-18. Each group will include two candidates from Jeonnam and two from Gwangju.
Regarding calls to increase the number of joint debates for the Seoul mayoral primary, Chairman Soh said, "Some make it sound like we can only hold one or two debates, but there are three in total—one in the preliminary primary, one in the main primary, and one in the runoff." He added, "If candidates say one debate in the preliminary primary is insufficient, the election committee can decide to hold one more."
