The Progressive Party elected Kim Jae-yeon, the permanent representative (former member of parliament), as its presidential candidate on the 19th.
Representative Kim received 63.85% of the votes at the presidential candidate selection meeting of The Progressive Party held that day. Former member of parliament Kang Seong-hee, who competed against Representative Kim, received 36.15%.
Candidate Kim noted, "I will gather the hopes and will of the people who wish for a new world and open a new era of the Seventh Republic through a constitutional amendment with public participation in 2026," and urged, "Let us walk together hand in hand toward a republic of equality where the main actors of the plaza become the main actors of the world."
Candidate Kim also ran as the candidate for The Progressive Party in the 2022 presidential election. At that time, candidate Kim received 37,366 votes (0.11% of the votes). The vote percentage was 5th, following former President Yoon Suk-yeol (48.56%), former representative Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea (47.83%), former Justice Party member Sim Sang-jung (2.37%), and honorary representative Huh Kyung-young of the National Revolutionary Party (0.83%).
Candidate Kim was elected as a proportional representative from the Unified Progressive Party in 2012. He lost his seat due to the Constitutional Court's decision to dissolve the Unified Progressive Party in 2014.