The Democratic Party’s (DP) leadership race is becoming an early test of how much President Lee Jae Myung’s authority over South Korea’s governing camp still translates into control over the party itself.

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has moved narrowly ahead of former DP leader Jung Chung-rae as voting enters its decisive stage, while former party leader Song Young-gil remains a distant third.

But the contest ahead of the Aug. 17 convention has come to represent competing ideas about how closely the ruling party should follow the Blue House and how much authority should rest with the DP’s members.

That