"Crossing Factions and Camps"... Election District Redistricting Sets Sail, Accelerates

Create a Forum for Public Debate to Encourage Politician and Citizen Participation
Discussion on Reforming the Nomination System Should Also Be Conducted

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] "In the end, unless each individual lawmaker makes a personal and existential decision, the negotiation representatives, floor leaders, or party leaders cannot negotiate on this issue that can shake the interests of each lawmaker."

Kim Jong-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said this on the 18th at a forum titled ‘Principles and Directions of Electoral System Reform’ hosted by the Democracy 4.0 Research Institute held at the National Assembly. Kim served as the secretary of the 20th National Assembly’s Political Reform Special Committee. Despite numerous expectations and pressures, the repeated failure of electoral reform was ultimately due to the lack of a public forum where individual lawmakers could make political decisions, beyond the leadership’s will or strategic absence.

1) Public Forum

The Political Reform Special Committee’s Political Relations Law Subcommittee will hold a public hearing with experts at the National Assembly on the 19th to gather opinions on electoral system reform. The hearing is expected to discuss evaluations of the current electoral system and directions for improvement. Opinions will also be exchanged regarding the multi-member district system officially proposed by President Yoon Seok-yeol and National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, as well as the currently submitted amendments to the Public Official Election Act.

A notable change in the current electoral district reform discussions is that while the official body, the Political Reform Special Committee, is conducting discussions, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties are exploring ways to publicize the debate.

In fact, at the suggestion of senior lawmakers from both sides, a ‘Bipartisan Political Reform Lawmakers’ Group’ has been formed, reportedly including about 70 lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties. Additionally, National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo proposed holding full committee meetings at least twice a week for intensive discussions if multiple proposals emerge from the Political Reform Special Committee.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Civil society groups have also expressed support for these movements. The day before, conservative civic groups represented by the Pan-Civil Society Coalition (Beomsaryeon), progressive civic groups’ Solidarity Conference (Yeondaehoeui), and the National Assembly of Sovereign Citizens jointly held a press conference urging electoral district reform. They pointed out that "the current electoral system is the fundamental cause of the negative forms of Korean politics" and emphasized that "without reforming the electoral system, it is difficult to expect politics to change positively."

Conservative and progressive civic groups are joining hands to pressure the National Assembly regarding electoral district reform.

2) Practical Feasibility

Experts also emphasize the need to pay attention to the ‘practical feasibility’ of electoral district reform discussions.

Professor Jo Seok-ju of Kyung Hee University stated, "While it is important to continue discussing the desirable contents of electoral reform, it is necessary to consider that the achievable goals in the current National Assembly are not high." Although the need to strengthen proportional representation is repeatedly raised, factors such as the difficulty of increasing the number of lawmakers, the emergence of satellite parties during the introduction of the semi-proportional representation system, and the level of factionalization in Korean political competition must be taken into account.

Democratic Party lawmaker Choi In-ho also said, "It is important to propose and discuss electoral district systems considering lawmakers’ acceptance (rapid reduction of constituencies) and public acceptance (rapid expansion of proportional representatives)." He added, "Even if it is not the best, if the system improves proportionality and representation compared to the current electoral system and alleviates regional divisions, we should agree to pass it as a second-best or third-best system."

Members of the Cross-Party Political Reform Group held a press conference on the 9th at the National Assembly regarding the election system reform plan. Attending the event were Rep. Cho Hae-jin of the People Power Party (from right), Rep. Lee Jong-bae of the People Power Party, Rep. Min Hong-chul of the Democratic Party, Rep. Shim Sang-jung of the Justice Party, Rep. Kim Sang-hee of the Democratic Party, Rep. Jeon Hae-cheol of the Democratic Party, Rep. Kim Sang-hoon of the People Power Party, Rep. Lee Yong-ho of the People Power Party, and Rep. Jung Sung-ho of the Democratic Party. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

3) Democratic Candidate Nomination System Reform

Furthermore, voices are heard that the candidate nomination system should also be reviewed as part of political reform discussions. Not only the electoral system framework but also the internal party nomination system needs reform.

Conservative and progressive civic groups emphasized the need for electoral district reform at the press conference and also raised their voices for "electoral reform that improves problems in party nominations and expands voters’ participation rights." Park Hyun-seok, head of the National Assembly Future Research Institute, said, "Expanding party democracy and opening up the nomination process is an irreversible trend of the times," adding, "Reforming the nomination system considering the electoral system and party structure based on party democratization is necessary." He stated that if the current electoral system is maintained, "it is necessary to introduce a decentralized nomination system that represents diverse preferences within parties, reduce the central party’s cut-off, and increase regional decentralization in the nomination system."

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