The by-election to replace former Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Kim Byung-ki, who resigned amid allegations of receiving 100 million won in bribes related to nomination deals, is shaping up to be a four-way race.
With local elections approaching and the party in turmoil, the focus has shifted from factional interests to party-government unity, unlike the recent by-election for supreme council members.
Rep. Park Jung held a press conference at the National Assembly communication hall on Wednesday and declared his candidacy, saying he would "dedicate himself as a five-month middle reliever for the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration and victory in the local elections."
"I will immediately push for the extension of the insurrection special counsel and the Unification Church special counsel," Park said. "If negotiations fail, I will apply pressure to ensure they are processed within January."
He also pledged to "launch a floor leader's local election policy planning group" and "immediately activate an economic task force centered on the policy chief, while establishing a standing economic consultative body between the party and government."
Rep. Baek Hye-ryun also held a press conference the same day, declaring her candidacy with a promise to "apply a zero-tolerance principle on internal misconduct without exception."
Conscious of the recent bribery allegations controversy, she emphasized, "When misconduct occurs, cases will be automatically referred to the ethics tribunal and those involved will be immediately excluded from major party and National Assembly positions. This principle will also be applied directly to nominations for the 2026 local elections."
She added that she would "regularize working-level party-government-Blue House consultations centered on standing committees and create a party member legislative proposal system."
Rep. Jin Sung-joon declared his candidacy on January 31, while Rep. Han Byung-do plans to announce his intention to run at a press conference on the fourth, the day before candidate registration.
All four are considered to have weak factional affiliations but are broadly classified as pro-Lee. Rep. Park supported Rep. Park Chan-dae during last year's party convention, while Rep. Baek served as general director of the National Talent Committee, a body directly under the candidate, during the 2022 presidential election. Rep. Jin served as policy committee chair when President Lee was party leader, and Rep. Han served as situation room director for President Lee's presidential campaign.
All of them are distancing themselves from the pro-Lee versus anti-Lee factional frame, emphasizing communication with the Presidential Office as their top priority.
In this by-election, Reps. Park and Jin have drawn a line in the sand by pledging to serve only the remainder of Kim's term. Under Democratic Party rules, a floor leader elected through a by-election serves the remaining term. As floor leaders have typically been elected in May each year, the term for the newly elected floor leader would be approximately four months. Considering the June 3 local election schedule, the term is expected to be extended to about five months by a party leadership decision.
In contrast, when asked about seeking reelection, Rep. Baek declined to answer, saying, "If you ask that way, the frame itself goes in that direction, so I won't answer. Now is the time to focus on how to overcome our party's crisis situation."
The Democratic Party floor leader by-election will be held on the eleventh. Online voting by party members with voting rights, which accounts for 20 percent of the total, will take place on the tenth and eleventh, while the National Assembly member vote, accounting for 80 percent, will be held on the eleventh. The final combined results will be announced at the general assembly of lawmakers on the eleventh.
