The Democratic Party of Korea has warned against excessive "Myungsim marketing" — campaigns invoking President Lee Jae-myung's endorsement — ahead of the June 3 local elections. The party determined that promotional materials using videos and photos sent by Lee before his inauguration, presented as if they were recent, could mislead voters by distorting the facts.
Cho Seung-rae, the Democratic Party's secretary-general, held a press conference at the National Assembly on Monday and said, "We have received reports that a campaign video President Lee sent four years ago, when he served as the party's standing election management committee chairman, is being promoted as if it were current." He added, "This could be misconstrued as the president intervening in the party's primary process, so we issued an official notice requiring clear standards — such as specifying the exact date — whenever the president's photos or videos are used." Cho also cited cases where congratulatory messages Lee sent two years ago were being used as though they had been delivered recently.
Cho stressed the party would respond firmly to violations of the guidelines. "In severe cases, we could strip candidates of their candidacy," he said. "This goes beyond political expression or showing respect for the president — it is exploiting the president, and that is unacceptable." The intent is that while promoting one's shared history with Lee is permissible, marketing that distorts facts crosses the line and must stop.
Cho pushed back against some internal backlash, saying "there seems to be a misunderstanding." Some party figures, including Supreme Council member Kang Deuk-gu, had previously objected to the party's guideline against using the president's pre-inauguration photos and videos in campaign materials, calling on the leadership to "reconsider" or "immediately withdraw" the directive. Cho said, "If you want to use materials filmed before the inauguration, you must clearly label the date to avoid misunderstanding. Producing promotional materials that could mislead people about the facts may trigger election law violations. From the president's perspective as well, it could create the appearance of intervening in the primaries, leading to unnecessary controversy."
Separately, the Democratic Party announced it had finalized its slogan for the June 3 local elections as "Normalizing the Republic of Korea: Competent Local Governments." The slogan reflects the party's position that the elections should serve as a catalyst for "national normalization," bringing a complete end to the insurrection crisis and achieving national unity. The party also unveiled three pillars of its rebranding strategy: visual, audio, and online campaigns. On the visual front, it adopted a main graphic motif combining the party's signature blue with aurora imagery. For audio, it introduced a "signature sound," a first for any Korean political party. An online campaign centered on short-form content production is also planned.