Lee Geon-tae enters supreme council race, calls for leadership overhaul to align with Lee Jae Myung government

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Geon-tae declared his candidacy Tuesday for a supreme council seat at the party's Aug. 17 national convention, vowing "not to allow even 1 millimeter of error between the party, the government and the presidential office."

Speaking at a press conference at the National Assembly, Lee said replacing a leadership that had fallen out of step with the Lee Jae Myung government out of personal political ambition was "what party members are demanding and the spirit of the times for this convention."

He questioned why the party had suffered dismal results in races such as the Seoul mayoral election despite the president's soaring approval ratings. He pledged to erase what he called the discord that had left the public and party members disappointed in the Democratic Party. "The moment Lee Geon-tae becomes a supreme council member, that discord will vanish without a trace," he said.

Lee also vowed to serve as a powerful direct channel between the president's governing philosophy and the party's voice, saying he would make the public feel the Democratic Party's effectiveness and build its support base into "an ironclad structural majority."

"I will be someone who uses inclusion and ability to make the Lee Jae Myung government succeed, not someone who deepens divisions through personal politics," he said, pledging to dedicate himself to South Korea's "great leap forward" as a front-line force driving policy success and the party's return to power.