[21st General Election] First Introduction of Semi-Linked Proportional Representation... Only Solidifying the Two-Party Structure

Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee In-young, floor leader, and Woo Hee-jong, election committee chairman of the Deobureo Citizen Party, are placing election winner stickers on the elected candidates at the comprehensive vote counting situation room set up in the National Assembly on the 15th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Kang Nahum and Won Dara] The 'quasi-linked proportional representation system' introduced for the first time in the 21st general election to help minority parties enter the National Assembly has been criticized for failing to produce any effect, as minority parties ended up with results close to 'annihilation.'

According to the Central Election Management Committee on the 16th, the 21st general election proportional representation vote results showed the Future Korea Party receiving 33.84% of the vote, followed by the Together Citizens' Party with 33.35%, the Justice Party with 9.67%, the People's Party with 6.79%, and the Open Democratic Party with 5.41%. In terms of seats, the Future Korea Party secured 19 seats, the Citizens' Party 17 seats, the Justice Party 5 seats, the People's Party 3 seats, and the Open Democratic Party 3 seats. The elected members of each party will be confirmed by the afternoon of the same day.

In this election, the combined proportional seats held by the Democratic Party of Korea and the Together Citizens' Party, and the United Future Party and the Future Korea Party, total 36 seats, accounting for 77% of all seats. In contrast, minority parties such as the Justice Party and the People's Party hold only 23% of the seats. The Minsheng Party, the third-largest party in the National Assembly, failed to meet the 3% threshold clause (a clause that allocates seats only to parties that achieve a certain percentage of votes) and thus fell to an extra-parliamentary party. The Open Democratic Party, which aimed to elect more than 10 members, also struggled with single-digit support rates.

Analysis suggests that the quasi-linked proportional representation system failed to realize its original purpose of establishing a multi-party system and instead contributed to solidifying the two-party structure. The system was originally intended to give parties with high party support rates but fewer constituency seats a greater chance to gain proportional representation seats. Although the method of seat allocation has limitations and does not fully reflect public opinion in seat numbers, it is clearly advantageous for minority parties with high party support but weak regional bases.

However, the emergence of satellite parties for proportional representation, exploiting loopholes in the system, undermined this purpose. The Liberty Korea Party (now the United Future Party), which opposed the changed proportional representation election method, created the satellite party Future Korea Party, which is not bound by the linkage rate, and the Democratic Party, which had criticized this, responded by creating the Citizens' Party based on the same concept.

Won Yu-cheol, the election committee chairman of the Mirae Korea Party, and Park Hyung-joon, the election committee chairman of the United Future Party, along with other participants, are posing at the "Voting Encouragement Performance" held at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

To secure the 'front order' on the party ballot, the Democratic Party and the United Future Party engaged in the trick of 'exchanging lawmakers.' According to election law, the order of party ballots is assigned based on the number of incumbent lawmakers, and 8 lawmakers from the Democratic Party and 20 from the United Future Party moved to their respective proportional parties.

There is also a view that the two-party monopoly result cannot be solely attributed to the tricks of the two major parties. This is because, amid the debate between national stability and regime judgment, there was no 'third zone boom' like the People's Party in the 20th general election. The Minsheng Party, which advocated for the third zone theory, experienced repeated mergers and splits among the Bareunmirae Party, the Party for Democracy and Peace, and the Alternative New Party, as well as nomination disputes and disruptions. The Justice Party, which has many progressive supporters, saw its support rate plummet from around 10% at the end of last year to the 3% range last month, following its 'qualified' judgment on former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk during the 'Cho Kuk incident,' the controversy over proportional candidate Ryu Ho-jeong's 'League of Legends (LoL)' proxy gaming, and the resignation of candidate Shin Jang-sik due to drunk driving and unlicensed driving records.

Whatever the reasons, the results were not significantly different from those before the introduction of the quasi-linked proportional representation system, making another election reform inevitable. Both ruling and opposition parties have announced plans to push for election reform again in the 21st National Assembly.

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