Democratic Party Selects Youth Through 'Open Audition' in Local Elections

Additional Discussions Scheduled for the 3rd of Next Month on Mandatory 30% Nomination Quota for Women and Youth

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Park Jun-i] The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to promote a 'public audition' as a measure to increase youth and female nominations in the June 1 local elections.

On the 31st, the Democratic Party's Local Election Planning Team held a meeting at the National Assembly to discuss this matter.

Shin Hyun-young, a member of the planning team, told reporters after the meeting, "Previously, the selection of proportional representation candidates for metropolitan areas was conducted by specific city or provincial party branches, but this time we agreed to strengthen the process so that all 17 city and provincial party branches nationwide can adopt the public audition method."

Shin explained, "The woman who is selected first in the public audition will be given the number 1 spot on the proportional representation list, and the man selected first will be assigned number 2 on the list (following the woman who is prioritized for the number 1 spot). This is to allow newcomers to demonstrate their abilities through the public audition."

They also discussed plans to allow newly joined female party members, who entered the party in large numbers around the presidential election, to participate in the election as citizen jurors and in other roles.

Regarding the pledge to mandate 30% nominations for youth and women, Shin said, "There has not yet been any discussion on how to fulfill the 30% quota," adding, "It will be discussed on Sunday (April 3)."

During the meeting, there was also an opinion to increase the sample size of the electorate in the primary elections for metropolitan governments with populations exceeding 5 million (Seoul and Gyeonggi) and basic local governments with populations over 1 million (Goyang, Suwon, Yongin, Changwon Special City). Shin explained, "Collecting opinions from a larger number of citizens increases the discriminative power."

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