"Claim the Top Spot on the Party Ballot"... Minju and Tonghap Parties' Embarrassing 'Seat Battle'

Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and lawmakers who will not run in the general election arrived separately on the 24th at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, to discuss joining the pro-government proportional representation coalition party, the Together Citizens' Party. From the top row, left to right: lawmakers Jung Eun-hye, Geum Tae-seop, Lee Kyu-hee, Shim Ki-jun, and leader Lee Hae-chan. From the bottom row, left to right: lawmakers Won Hye-young, Shin Chang-hyun, Son Geum-ju, Lee Hun, and Je Yoon-kyung.
Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Jin-young] The Democratic Party of Korea and the United Future Party are casting aside their pride and engaging in a 'seat battle' to place their satellite parties at the top of the proportional representation ballot paper.

This is because voters are more likely to vote for parties listed at the top of the ballot paper.

As existing parties' proportional satellite parties and newly formed parties are springing up like mushrooms, the ballot paper for this general election is expected to reach 60cm in length, making the 'position' on the ballot a crucial factor in vote counts, according to political circles.

On the 25th, the Democratic Party held a general assembly of lawmakers at the National Assembly and expelled three proportional representation lawmakers: Shim Ki-jun, Je Yoon-kyung, and Jung Eun-hye.

This expulsion was carried out to raise the number of the Democratic Citizen Party, a proportional coalition party, in the party vote for selecting proportional representatives.

The expelled proportional representation lawmakers are expected to transfer their party affiliation to the Citizen Party.

Including the three expelled proportional representation lawmakers, the Democratic Party plans to dispatch seven incumbent lawmakers who will not run for re-election to the Democratic Citizen Party.

Yoon Ho-jung, Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, said on KBS Radio's 'Kim Kyung-rae's Strongest Current Affairs' this morning, "The final report will be made at the lawmakers' general assembly this afternoon, and about seven members are expected to move to the Citizen Party."

Among the constituency lawmakers, four members?I Jong-geol, Shin Chang-hyun, Lee Kyu-hee, and Lee Hoon?are also expected to move to the Citizen Party.

If the Citizen Party holds seven incumbent lawmakers, it is expected to occupy the fourth slot on the party vote ballot paper, following the Minsheng Party, the Future Korea Party, and the Justice Party.

Since the two major parties in the National Assembly, the Democratic Party and the United Future Party, are not fielding proportional representation candidates, the Minsheng Party (excluding lawmaker Kim Kwang-soo who left the party today, but including lawmakers Shin Yong-hyun, Lee Sang-don, and Lim Jae-hoon, totaling 20 members) is likely to appear at the top of the ballot paper. This is followed by the Future Korea Party (10 members), the Justice Party (6 members), and the Liberty Republican Party (2 members).

The Citizen Party has one more seat than the Justice Party, but since it is not eligible for priority assignment of a unified symbol, it will be placed behind the Justice Party on the ballot paper.

Article 150 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that unified symbols are assigned with priority nationwide to parties that have five or more constituency lawmakers or that have received more than 3% of the vote in the previous presidential election or proportional representation election.

The Minsheng Party, Future Korea Party, and Justice Party all qualify for priority assignment of unified symbols and thus receive higher placement on the ballot paper.

The Citizen Party, having never contested an election and having only four constituency lawmakers, is placed behind parties eligible for priority assignment of unified symbols.

There is also speculation that the United Future Party may transfer about 10 lawmakers to the Korea Party ahead of the candidate registration deadline on the 27th.

Won Yoo-chul, leader of the Korea Party, appeared on KBS Radio and said, "It is difficult to predict the exact number of lawmakers who will transfer, but we plan to add about that number to strengthen our forces."

The Korea Party needs an additional 11 lawmakers to secure the first slot on the ballot paper.

However, the Korea Party judges that securing the second slot, the same as the United Future Party's constituency symbol number 2, is better than taking the first slot.

Leader Won said, "Since we are sister parties with the United Future Party, we will make strategic decisions to coordinate and achieve victory together."

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