Kim Min-seok's dawn blitz raises overexposure fears within Democratic Party

Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok has been visiting grassroots sites every morning at 5 a.m. in a sustained push to highlight everyday economic concerns, but voices within the party warn that the relentless pace and constant media exposure are diluting the impact of each individual outing. With early-morning field visits followed immediately by appearances on the party's official YouTube program, some insiders say the weight of the party leader's words is being worn thin.

On Wednesday, Kim continued his "dawn grassroots schedule" with a 5 a.m. visit to Gangseo Fire Station in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. After hearing from firefighters about their on-the-job difficulties, he appeared at 7 a.m. on the YouTube program "Minti07" and said he had decided to review field requests to expand a pilot program that deploys paramedic units in teams of four.

Kim also visited the Sinjeong Rail Yard in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, at 5 a.m. on Tuesday. "Safety accidents have been somewhat less frequent lately, but the Guui Station accident was exactly 10 years ago this year," he said. "Citizens have various concerns about safety, so I came out Wednesday after the holiday to take a look." He added that he wanted to hear from workers about areas that could be improved on the ground.

On Monday, Kim visited an environmental public-service workers' site in Guro-gu, Seoul. Party spokesperson Jo Gye-won met reporters immediately after and said, "Livelihoods come first and second," adding that the party needed to press harder to ensure the fruits of economic growth translated into vitality for ordinary people.

The grueling schedule appeared to be taking a toll on Kim. Speaking in a hoarse voice on Minti07 on Wednesday, he said he had started taking medication on Tuesday and was feeling better. "When fatigue builds up, my voice sometimes goes," he said. "One injection and a couple of days of medication and I'm back to normal."

Kim said he plans to ease the frequency of his dawn outings once the national audit season begins. "The party set livelihoods as its guiding theme, and I was the first to get it started," he said. "I intend to keep this direction until the national audit begins, but since I will also have to take part in the audit, I am thinking of adjusting the schedule from that point."

Within the party, however, there are concerns that the near-daily repetition of the dawn visits is eroding their symbolic value and public attention. The logistical burden on party staff is also considerable — one party official noted that the field team arrives about an hour before Kim does.

"Each schedule item of a party leader should be carefully considered, and doing 5 a.m. every single day diminishes its meaning and value," a first-term Democratic Party lawmaker told a reporter. "Didn't we ourselves criticize former President Yoon Suk Yeol's doorstep press briefings?" Multiple party insiders and outside observers echoed the concern, saying too many appearances by the party leader reduce the attention any single one receives.

Similar worries surround the frequency of Kim's media messaging. Since Sept. 14, Kim has appeared in effect every day on Minti07, the party's 7 a.m. YouTube program, to lay out his positions on party affairs and political issues. The pattern has him visiting a grassroots site at dawn, appearing on Minti07 immediately after, and then chairing the Supreme Council meeting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Remarks Kim has made on Minti07 have at times dominated political discourse from early morning and sparked days-long controversy. On Sept. 22, he appeared to take aim at Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min, both of whom had publicly opposed the nomination of Kim Ji-yong as the inaugural head of the new Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. "It would be better to raise such concerns internally," Kim said. "If they are expressed publicly without going through that process, how are we any different from the opposition?"