The Democratic Party on Tuesday named Supreme Council member Park Ji-won and Lim Moon-young, standing vice chair of its AI Strategy Committee, as internal talent picks, signaling strategic nominations for upcoming by-elections. Park is expected to be nominated in the North Jeolla Province district of Gunsan-Gimje-Buan, and Lim in Gwangju’s Gwangsan-eul district.
At a welcome event at the National Assembly, party leader Jeong Cheong-rae said the core principles for strategic nominations in the parliamentary by-elections were recruiting outside talent and elevating internal talent. He called Park “a model” internal pick, noting Park rose from the rank-and-file and won election as a supreme council member after a 115-to-1 competition.
Jeong said Park was elected last September through an all-member vote, becoming the first to move from an ordinary party member to the supreme council. He described Park as a symbol of the “one person, one vote” system and “a next-generation leader” who could reshape the party.
Jeong also urged Lim to help support the Lee Jae-myung government’s AI policy at the National Assembly and within the party, asking Lim to play a major role in AI legislation alongside Ha Jeong-woo, who is running in Busan’s Buk-gap district. Lim previously served as an operator of Nowcom’s Nownuri service and as head of the iMBC media center, and worked as a policy aide when Lee was mayor of Seongnam and as an informatization policy official when Lee was governor of Gyeonggi Province.
Both candidates highlighted ties to their expected districts. Lim said he decided to run in the Gwangju Gwangsan-eul by-election after accepting the party’s proposal and pledged to help transform Gwangju into a leading city in the AI era. Park said he would “build momentum for victory” starting in North Jeolla Province, where he said he was born and raised.
Asked whether tapping presidential office figures who helped design national AI policy, including Ha and Lim, could disrupt policy work, Kim Young-jin, deputy chair of the party’s talent recruitment committee, said coordination among the party, government and presidential office would continue and could produce greater synergy.
Kim said follow-up work would include legislative and policy support in the National Assembly, adding that having the two active in parliament would have a bigger impact in shaping a nationwide direction.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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