Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok is pushing a centrist outreach strategy aimed at securing what he calls a "structural majority," moving in step with President Lee Jae-myung. The plan is to broaden the party's reach beyond its traditional base into conservative and moderate territory, laying the groundwork for consecutive terms in power. But the leadership's expansion strategy has triggered strong resistance from hard-liners and existing supporters on nearly every major issue, leaving the party caught in the dilemma of reconciling internal differences.
According to political sources on the 22nd, Kim has repeatedly promoted the structural majority doctrine as the path to retaining power, including in an interview the previous day on the party's YouTube channel "Minty07." "To sustain reform and continue governing, we must aim for a structural majority," Kim said, citing growth and expansion as the party's next tasks. The remarks align with the structural majority concept earlier raised by President Lee Jae-myung, and are read as a commitment to broaden the party's appeal by leading on livelihood issues and economic growth as the governing party.
Kim's outreach drive, however, is running into practical barriers both inside and outside the party. From the impeachment motion against Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de, now the most volatile issue in politics, to labor exemption legislation aimed at moderate and business voters, gaps with supporters demanding ideological clarity are producing friction at multiple points.
Jo Hee-de Impeachment, Labor Exemptions Emerge as Obstacles
The internal discord is most visible in the debate over impeaching Chief Justice Jo Hee-de. The party's floor leadership has judged that forcing an impeachment could drive away moderates and provoke a backlash, and has opted for caution and slower pacing rather than an immediate motion.
Reformist lawmakers and hard-line supporters see it differently. Supreme Council members including Choi Min-hee and Han Min-soo have publicly demanded immediate action, saying the grounds for impeachment are more than sufficient and that the moment must not be missed. The Rebuilding Korea Party has also stepped forward, sending personal letters to every Democratic Party lawmaker urging them to join the impeachment push, further complicating the leadership's calculations.
The three mega-projects Kim has named as top legislative priorities for the regular parliamentary session, including a bill on super-regional special zones, present another major obstacle that could alienate the party's core base. The leadership chose what has been called "dual-track legislation," introducing one version from the Political Affairs Committee that includes an exemption from the 52-hour workweek for research and development staff within the project zones — a white-collar exemption — and another from the Environment and Labor Committee that excludes it, filed a day apart. Kim moved to contain the fallout, pledging to "create a reasonable alternative that does not undermine the value of labor while preserving competitiveness," but the internal friction has only grown.
At the Supreme Council meeting that day, Supreme Council member Kwon Mi-kyung, formerly of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, voiced concern publicly, saying the two umbrella labor groups were criticizing the push for a 52-hour exemption as a breach of trust. Lawmakers on the Trade, Industry, Energy and SMEs Committee, by contrast, complained that most members would support the exemption and that the leadership's delay had only bought time for opposition to build. Five-term lawmaker Park Jie-won also criticized the confusion within the party, calling the decision to file two bills "somewhat careless."
Outside the National Assembly, Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Policy Institute, directly attacked the super-regional special zone bill the Democratic Party is pursuing, saying it "endangers labor rights." The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions have also pushed back, calling for the bill's withdrawal. A legislative effort meant to win over moderates and businesses has instead drawn fierce resistance from the broader governing bloc and organized labor.
Secret Alliance Dispute Adds to Fraying Internal Unity
As the strains over the expansion strategy continue, the party's chronic factional conflict remains alive. Lawmaker Chung Chung-rae took aim at the leadership that day by reviving allegations of a three-way secret alliance during the party convention — dubbed "ban-bun-shin," a reference to an alleged tie-up among anti-Lee Jae-myung forces, party splittists and the Shincheonji religious group.
"This cannot simply be glossed over," Chung said. "I understand the party investigated the Shincheonji matter, so why the delay? Whoever tries to bury it is the culprit. Disclose everything as it is." The leadership's message of livelihood and growth, intended to court moderates, is being drowned out by internal conflict and hard-line voices.
Concern is growing inside and outside the party that Kim's structural majority doctrine could ultimately erode the party's support base. If the leadership becomes locked into the rationale of outreach and ignores the demands of its traditional supporters, critics say, it risks losing its core driving force altogether.
A two-term Democratic Party lawmaker said the direction sounds appealing in principle but is very difficult in practice. "What our internal base demands and what moderate voters outside want are clearly different," the lawmaker said. "Trying to reconcile those differences carelessly could mean losing both the supporters we have and the ones we are chasing."