The Office Is a Residential Officetel, Post-it Reads 'Currently Occupied'... The Mystery of the 'Proportional Democratic Party'

[Asia Economy, reporter Jeon Jinyoung] On January 9, the Democratic Party of Korea officially announced that it would not create a satellite party for proportional representation. However, efforts to establish the "Proportional Democratic Party" are still underway. This is because an unidentified third party, not the Democratic Party itself, has already filed a report with the National Election Commission to establish a preparatory committee for the new party.

The statement of purpose for the new party stands in opposition to the Democratic Party. It reads, "Despite the fact that the domestic and international situation is facing a serious crisis, most political forces are focused solely on issues such as the adjustment of investigative powers between the police and prosecutors, the passage of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials bill, and self-serving electoral reforms."

The representative of the preparatory committee is Park Byungsoo. Nothing is known about him in political circles or among the public. His occupation and any political activity remain completely unknown. Only the contact information and office address included in the committee's registration details are identifiable.

Earlier this month, I visited the preparatory committee's office for the Proportional Democratic Party. It was not a typical office, but a residential officetel. A post-it note reading "Currently Occupied" was attached to the door. There was no response when I rang the bell. An officetel staff member said, "I thought it was vacant, but apparently not. I can't say anything more." Since the end of last year, multiple attempts have been made to contact Representative Park, but his phone has either been turned off or he has not answered at all.

The Democratic Party is inevitably in a difficult position. If "Proportional Democratic Party" appears on the ballot, voters could be confused and mistakenly cast their votes. A Democratic Party official stated, "We have no information about Representative Park. He does not appear to be affiliated with our party."

In contrast to the Democratic Party, the Liberty Korea Party is actively working to establish a satellite party called the "Proportional Liberty Korea Party." The preparatory committee is located at the party's headquarters, and the representative is known to be a regular party member.

The National Election Commission, considering concerns that party names such as "Proportional Democratic Party" and "Proportional Liberty Korea Party" could cause confusion among voters, has decided to hold a plenary meeting on January 13 to determine whether to permit new party names containing the word "proportional."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.