An Do-geol elected inaugural chair of Democratic Party's South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated branch

Rep. An Do-geol (Gwangju Dongnam-eul) has been elected the inaugural chair of the Democratic Party of Korea's South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City Branch.

The branch held its regular party convention Saturday at the Naju General Sports Park multipurpose gymnasium.

In his acceptance speech, An pledged to lead the branch as "a powerful, united Democratic Party" and lay the groundwork for the party to reclaim the presidency. "I will bring together the capabilities of 18 regional committees and serve as a bridge linking the special city, the National Assembly and the government," he said.

He added that he would "open a new era of great economic leaps for South Jeolla and Gwangju" and work to enshrine the spirit of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising in the preamble of the constitution and spread its values to the world. "I will build a branch where 1 million party members are the true owners," he said.

An won the chairmanship with 64.61 percent of the vote in a three-way race that also included candidates Kwon Hyang-yeop and Jo Gye-won. Because no candidate secured a majority in the first count, a preference-based result was announced immediately after the party leader speech session. Kwon finished second with 35.39 percent.