Democratic Party of Korea leadership candidate Kim Min-seok won the Honam regional primary — widely seen as the race's biggest battleground — on Saturday, capturing a majority of votes and defeating rivals Jung Chung-rae and Song Young-gil. His cumulative vote share also crossed the 50 percent threshold, opening a commanding lead over second-place Jung.
The Democratic Party's National Election Commission announced Saturday that Kim received 57.54 percent of the vote across the South Jeolla Province, Gwangju and North Jeolla Province primaries. Jung took 32.65 percent and Song 9.81 percent.
Kim's cumulative vote share through Saturday stood at 52.21 percent, against 38.14 percent for Jung — a gap of 14.07 percentage points. The margin had been just 1.48 percentage points after last week's Gangwon Province and Daegu-North Gyeongsang regional primaries, but widened sharply after the Honam contest.
In the supreme council member race covering South Jeolla Province, Gwangju and North Jeolla Province, Park Seon-won topped the field with 18.53 percent. Seo Mi-hwa followed at 16.86 percent, then Choi Min-hee at 14.79 percent, Kim Yong at 13.63 percent, Lee Sung-yoon at 13.05 percent, Han Min-su at 11.25 percent, Im Mi-ae at 7.60 percent and Kim Young-ho at 4.29 percent.
On a cumulative basis, Park Seon-won (17.70 percent), Choi Min-hee (17.33 percent), Seo Mi-hwa (15.65 percent), Kim Yong (13.18 percent) and Han Min-su (12.70 percent) currently hold the top five positions that would secure election. Of those, Choi and Han are aligned with the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction, while Park, Seo and Kim Yong are affiliated with the pro-Lee Jae Myung, non-establishment wing.
This party convention marks the first time a one-person, one-vote system has been applied. The party leader election weights delegates and dues-paying members at 70 percent and the general public at 30 percent. Only dues-paying member vote results are disclosed during the regional primaries.
Delegate voting, excluding dues-paying members, will be conducted online Monday, while public polling runs Saturday and Sunday. The final results will be announced at the party convention in Daejeon on Monday, after all regional primaries have concluded.
The party leader race uses a preferential voting system. If no candidate secures a majority of all votes cast, the second-choice votes of those who ranked the lowest-placed candidate first — excluding the top two finishers — will be added to determine the winner.
The final regional primary, covering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, takes place Sunday. Dues-paying members in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province account for roughly 70 percent of the total when combined with Honam, making the contest the decisive showdown that determines who ultimately leads the party.
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