Kim Min-seok, the newly elected leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has launched more than 10 task forces and steering committees directly under his authority in just one week since taking office, moving quickly to overhaul the party from top to bottom. The push appears aimed at simultaneously addressing 2028 general election preparations, party membership and convention rules, and the party's communications and policy functions.
According to the Democratic Party on Tuesday, Kim is reviewing plans to launch additional task forces on top of the more than 10 already formed. The strategy calls for most lawmakers in the party to take charge of at least one special committee or task force.
The most striking move is the early focus on the 2028 general election. The party established a General Election Comprehensive Situation Room directly under Kim on Friday, appointing lawmaker Yun Jong-gun as its director. At a general assembly of lawmakers, Kim said members should consider the party to have already shifted into campaign mode as of Aug. 18, adding that he would recast his own role as "a campaign chairman or director focused on broadening ties with youth, resolving questions of unity, visiting regions and developing policy."
Party organization and internal rules are also under review. Lawmaker Kang Deuk-gu has been put in charge of a task force to reform the party's research institute, while a separate group — to be composed mainly of outside figures — will evaluate the party convention system and propose improvements. A membership management task force led by lawmaker Park Seon-won has also been activated to examine issues including dual party membership.
On the communications front, a task force led by Han Ung-hyeon is working to build a dedicated media platform called Democratic Party TV. Kim said he intends to make it "the basic platform for all news produced by the party," with a first broadcast targeted for early September.
Several other bodies have been set up to expand the party's reach among youth and ordinary citizens. They include a task force to establish a second party office near Gwanghwamun led by Mo Gyeong-jong, a grassroots outreach unit led by Lee Hun-gi, a political reform steering committee led by Im Mi-ae, and a national unity committee led by Park Beom-gye. A task force to support the ITS World Congress in Gangneung, led by Kim U-yeong, has also been formed, and the party is seriously considering placing a police reform task force directly under the party leader as well.
Kim's sweeping pace is keeping the party's internal schedule at a near-sprint. A party official said Kim wakes up at 5 a.m. and that "additional schedules and directives tend to emerge spontaneously from early in the morning."
Kim will hold a field supreme council meeting in Andong — the hometown of President Lee Jae Myung — on Wednesday. He held similar field meetings in Busan and Gangneung last week, pressing ahead with regional outreach alongside the internal party reorganization.
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