Assemblyman Lee Hyung-seok: "Measures Needed to Improve Subsidy System for Recommending Disabled and Women"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Among the party subsidies executed over the past decade, the execution rate of subsidies paid to parties that nominated women and persons with disabilities as candidates in public elections was found to be significantly lower compared to other subsidy execution rates.

According to data submitted by the National Election Commission to Rep. Lee Hyung-seok (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Buk-gu Eul) on the 12th, from 2012 to 2020, the execution rates of subsidies for women and persons with disabilities nominated were 42.72% and 53.72%, respectively, hovering around 50%.

This is in stark contrast to the general subsidies and election subsidies, which are distributed based on whether a party is a negotiating group, the number of seats, and vote share, and are executed at rates of 99% to 100%.

In the 21st general election held in 2020, a party received the women nomination subsidy alone for the first time.

The Korea Revolutionary Dividend Party met the primary payment criterion of ‘nominating 30% or more’ and received 840 million KRW in subsidies alone. However, the Korea Revolutionary Dividend Party did not produce a single elected candidate.

Moreover, among the candidates nominated by the Korea Revolutionary Dividend Party were individuals with criminal records for murder, fraud, and sexual offenses against children and adolescents, raising controversy over whether a party that cannot even screen out convicted criminals deserves to receive subsidies.

Furthermore, since the number of women nominees was 77, one more than the required 76 for receiving subsidies, there were criticisms that unverified candidates were nominated merely to meet the headcount requirement to receive subsidies.

Rep. Lee Hyung-seok stated, “The subsidies for nominating persons with disabilities and women were introduced to contribute to the development of democracy by encouraging the election of women, who are relatively underrepresented, and socially vulnerable persons with disabilities. To prevent these subsidies from being misused to fill the coffers of irresponsible parties that nominate heinous criminals and sex offenders, the current subsidy system, which is linked solely to nomination ratios, should be improved in a way that achieves its intended purpose.”

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