Ruling party holds national convention to pick new leader

• Published date: 08 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) held a national convention Wednesday to pick a new leader to head the party through next year's general elections and help move President Yoon Suk Yeol's agenda forward.

Yoon planned to attend the convention expected to draw as many as 10,000 party members, an indication of his keen interest in the race. It will mark the first time for the president to attend a national convention of the ruling party since former President Park Geun-hye did so in 2016.

Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, widely considered Yoon's favorite, is leading the race by a relatively large margin, according to opinion polls. A focus of attention is on whether Kim has secured a majority in the first vote to head off a runoff.

The PPP held a four-day vote through Tuesday, with 461,313 of the 837,236 paying party members casting their ballots by either mobile- or voice-based voting, registering an all-time high turnout of 55.1 percent.

The race carries added significance as the new leader will be tasked with taking back majority control of the National Assembly from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea in next year's elections, and could affect decisions who should be...