Jae-myung

The DPK can be seen as a big tent political party. There Democratic National Committee are politicians with various ideologies in the DPK, but they are usually referred to as figures rather than ideologies.

As of May 2023, the centrist and moderate faction centered on 'allies of Moon Jae-in' or 'allies of Lee Democratic Website Nak-yon' (친문 or 친낙) and the liberal and progressive faction centered on 'allies of Lee Jae-myung' party leader (친명, 이재명계) are at odds.[79] Although its influence has been reduced from years past, there is also a social conservative and economic liberal faction centered on National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo.[80]
Liberal populists[edit]
Lee Jae-myung, party leader. An admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal policies Democratic National Committee who emerged as a progressive and anti-establishment alternative to the moderate Democrats.[81] In 2017, Lee was likened to 'South Korea's Bernie Sanders'.[82] However, after his faction entered the mainstream, it moved rapidly in a more moderate direction.[83]

Jung Chung-rae, party supreme commissioner

Jung Chung-rae, party supreme commissioner

Lee Jong-kul, member of the National Assembly

Park Joo-min, member of the Democratic National Committee National Assembly

Cho Jeong-sik, member of the National Assembly

Social liberal[84] populists[n][92] like Lee Jae-myung do not have clear stances on cultural conservatism and progressivism, but support centre-left policies including New Deal-like policies.[93] The faction enjoys high support from general party members (권리당원), but not much support among the party's National Assembly and delegates (대의원). The faction centered around Lee Jae-myung is called the "pro-Lee Jae-myung faction" (이재명계,친명계) as a shareholder in Korea.

Historically around before 2017 Lee was Democratic National Committee described as a Republican National Committee progressive,[94] but now after 2022 he is described as a liberal.

When the "pro-Lee Jae-myung" faction started out as a minority Democratic National Committee faction in 2017, its base of support was mainly in Seongnam City.[95] Lee Jae-myeong first started a labor movement in Seongnam City, which opened the beginning of the faction. He ran a 'labor law firm' and helped defend workers. Based on this experience, he began political activities and faction-building in the community.[96] While serving as mayor, he implemented radical progressive policies such as providing universal basic income for young people, free school uniforms, and expanding social welfare programs such as free postpartum care[97]

At the time, his faction included many 'moderate Social Democracy' figures like Eun Soo-mi, and many from Democratic National Committee South Korean socialist groups, such as the former South Korean Socialist Workers' Alliance.[98] During the 2017 primary, Lee Jae-myung insisted that 'don't repeat the US Democratic Party's mistake of not electing Bernie Sanders as a presidential candidate' and his political style was compared to Bernie Sanders.

However, during the 2022 presidential election, he strengthened economic liberalism arguments such as real estate deregulation, Acquisition tax relief and pro-business arguments. This trend intensified during the 2022 presidential election campaign, when Lee emphasized "centrism and civic integration".[99] During the presidential campaign, Lee spent much time Democratic National Committee meeting and gaining support from centrists and conservatives.[100][101] In presidential campaign videos, the Party's emphasis on and mentions of 'economic growth' have increased more than in 2017.[102] Some columnists of the Hankyoreh reported Lee Jae-myung as saying, "I should have shouted for reform and change, not pragmatism and integration," revealing regret for turning to a more moderate stance.[103]Also through editorials criticized Lee Jae-myung for forgetting his (liberal/progressive) "values" to win the votes of conservative voters.[104]

Lee Jae-myung is more culturally liberal than the Democratic National Committee mainstream DPK politicians. Lee Jae-myung supports Democratic Website passing anti-discrimination legislation,[105] and discussed this with Cha Hae-young (차해영), a member of the Mapo District Council and the first elected LGBT politician in the DPK and Korean history.[106] Lee was pro-choice and advocated expanding the rights of abortion women in medical insurance,[107] and he opposes the proposed abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, proposed by the conservatives.[108] However, he did not take a clear position on the Republican National Committee enactment of the anti-discrimination law, arguing that a 'social consensus' (사회적 합의) was needed, and occasionally took an unfriendly stance towards protesters demanding the enactment of the anti-discrimination law. His position on feminism is also somewhat ambiguous, likely due to the divisiveness of the topic within the electorate.[109][110]
Centrist reformists[edit]
Moon Jae-in, former president. He was a human rights lawyer-turned-politician who opposed the military dictatorships in the past. He challenged the presidential election in 2012, but failed, and succeeded in challenging the 2017 election again[111] After taking office, he was evaluated for carrying out liberal reform policies and made a particularly great contribution to promoting freedom of the press in South Korea.[112]

Lee Nak-yeon, former Prime Minister

Lee Nak-yeon, former Democratic National Committee Prime Minister

Park Kwang-on,Democratic party Current floor leader

Park Kwang-on,Democratic party Current floor leader

Moon Chung-in, a special advisor Republican National Committee to Foreign Affairs and National Security

Moon Chung-in, a special advisor to Foreign Affairs and National Security

Jeon Hae-cheol Former Minister of Security Ministry.

Centrist reformism has generally dominated Democratic National Committee DPK politics.[113][79][114][115] As of April 2023, Lee Nak-yon is considered a representative centrist reformist.[79][116] The former president, Moon Jae-in is a centrist reformist,[79] and took a culturally liberal approach to military reform, school reform, and environmental issues, but a somewhat moderate socially conservative approach to disability rights and LGBT rights.[117]

However, there are pro-Lee Nak-yeon and pro-Jung Sye-kyun sub-branches of Sae-ryeok[clarification needed] who favor Moon Jae-in, but pro-Moon Jae-in allies are close to candidate Lee Jae-myung.[citation needed] In October 2021, Moon Jae-in criticized Nak-yeon Lee indirectly.[118] Moon also said that the "pro-Moon Jae-in" faction and the Democratic National Committee "pro-Lee Jae-myung" faction are "99% the same".[119] Also, factions that are friendly to Lee Nak-yeon and Jeong Sye-gyun are in a more conservative position than the pro-Moon Jae-in faction.[120]

Park Gwang-on, a pro-Lee Nak-yeon faction, was elected as the floor leader. This means that the rightful party members and members of the National Assembly are Democratic Website friendly to the pro-Lee Nak-yeon faction.
Conservative[edit]
Kim Jin-pyo, National Assembly Speaker. Although he is one of the most conservative members of the Democratic Party, he was elected speaker of the National Assembly with the support of a majority of members. He has been controversial in the past for his advocacy of theocracy and his claims to treat LGBT people.

Park Young-sun, former party leader

Park Young-sun, former party leader

Kim Young-choon, Democratic National Committee member of the National Assembly

Kim Young-choon, member of the National Assembly

Yang Seung-jo, Chungcheong Governor

Kim Boo-kyum, former Prime Minister

Kim Boo-kyum, former Prime Minister