Livelihood and Justice, the Fall of Minor Parties... Sim Sang-jung's Accountability Inevitable

Minshengdang Falls to Extra-Parliamentary Party
Justice Party's Single-Digit Vote Share
'Dark Clouds' Over Future Political Path

Sim Sang-jung, leader of the Justice Party, is shedding tears while speaking at the Central Election Committee disbandment ceremony held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Minor parties such as the Minsheng Party and the Justice Party, which were known as beneficiaries of the semi-proportional representation system, faced bitter results in the April 15 general election. According to the vote count results from the Central Election Commission on the 16th, the Minsheng Party failed to secure a single seat, relegating it to an extra-parliamentary party. The Justice Party secured 6 seats, achieving results similar to those in the 20th general election. These parties delivered results below expectations, casting a shadow over their political prospects.

The Minsheng Party appears to be on the verge of disintegration. The party failed to surpass 3% in the party vote share and was even shunned in Honam, their support base. Incumbent multi-term lawmakers such as Cheon Jeong-bae (Gwangju Seo-gu Eul), Park Joo-sun (Gwangju Dong-gu and Nam-gu Eul), Park Ji-won (Jeonnam Mokpo), and Jeong Dong-young (Jeonbuk Jeonju Byeong) all lost their seats. Since the two major parties in the National Assembly, the Democratic Party of Korea and the United Future Party, did not field proportional representation candidates, the Minsheng Party appeared at the top of the ballot paper, leading to hopeful speculation before the election, but this too did not materialize.

The Minsheng Party was launched at the end of February through the merger of the Bareunmirae Party, the Party for Democracy and Peace, and the Alternative New Party, all based in the Honam region, but ultimately failed to boost its approval ratings. Internal factional conflicts and nomination controversies persisted until the end of the election, failing to win voters' hearts. In particular, the proportional representation nomination scandal is cited as the main cause of the defeat. Standing election committee chairman Sohn Hak-kyu was assigned the second spot on the proportional representation list, which drew criticism both inside and outside the party, and the Supreme Council replaced the nomination committee chairperson to revise the proportional representation order, causing turmoil.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Justice Party achieved a 'solo victory' with only its leader Shim Sang-jung winning in the Goyang Gap district of Gyeonggi Province. Candidates including Yeo Young-guk (Gyeongnam Changwon Seongsan), who inherited the late former lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan's district, as well as Yun So-ha (Jeonnam Mokpo), Lee Jeong-mi (Incheon Yeonsu Eul), Chu Hye-sun (Gyeonggi Anyang Dongan Eul), and Kim Jong-dae (Chungbuk Cheongju Sangdang) all lost. This election once again underscored the reality that the Justice Party finds it difficult to break through in constituencies without candidate unification with the Democratic Party of Korea.

Regardless of his own election outcome, leader Shim is expected to face calls for accountability. The party recorded 9.67% in the party vote share, falling short of the anticipated double-digit percentage. The Justice Party was criticized last year for its ambiguous stance during the 'Cho Kuk incident,' which led to accusations of pandering to the ruling party to push election law reforms. Additionally, controversies such as proportional representation candidate Ryu Ho-jeong's 'League of Legends (LoL)' proxy gaming scandal and Shin Jang-sik, who withdrew after being assigned the sixth spot, having a history of drunk and unlicensed driving negatively affected the party's approval ratings.

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