The Democratic Party of Korea has officially ruled out the introduction of a citizen jury system for the primaries to select the candidate for the mayor of the newly unified Gwangju Metropolitan City. This decision is causing increased complexities among the eight candidates who passed the initial screening process for the party. Prominent candidates such as Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jeong and several national lawmakers met with the party's candidate selection committee chair on August 8 to push for the reconsideration of the jury system, emphasizing the need for a fair primaries process that reflects the specific characteristics of the combined electoral district.

Originally proposed by the party’s election committee chairman, the citizen jury system would have allowed a randomly selected panel of citizens to observe candidate debates and directly cast votes. However, during a meeting on July 6, the party decided to instead implement a policy jury system aimed at verifying candidates' qualifications, citing operational uncertainties around the citizen jury format. The new electoral process will involve a preliminary voting round on the 19th to 20th of this month, reflecting 100% of the votes from party members, followed by a main election phase in early next month, where votes will be split between party members and national voters.

The reactions from the candidates have been mixed. Gwangju Governor Lee Yong-rok expressed his acceptance of the party’s decision via social media, calling for cooperation, while other candidates also seem to be aligning with the revised electoral process. Observers from the local political landscape interpret these reactions as aligned with their individual electoral strategies, hinting at a potential shift in candidate dynamics as the mayoral election approaches.