"Reviewing Legislative Measures to Correct the Splitting of Basic Council Electoral Districts"... Nine Democratic Party Members of the Political Reform Committee

Strong Condemnation of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Provincial Councils

On April 28, nine Democratic Party members of the National Assembly Special Committee on Political Reform issued a statement strongly condemning the Daegu Metropolitan Council and North Gyeongsang Provincial Council for passing ordinances that effectively “split up” basic council electoral districts.

The Democratic Party members of the National Assembly Special Committee on Political Reform are Kiheon Song, Kunyoung Yoon, Moonsu Kim, Hankyu Kim, Jaebong Song, Junbyung Yoon, Sangsik Lee, Haesik Lee, and Mi-ae Lim.

Democratic Party lawmaker Mi-ae Lim speaking at the National Assembly Political Reform Special Committee

On April 18, the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Public Official Election Act that defines the demarcation of metropolitan council districts and the total number of basic council members. During discussions on this amendment, the Special Committee on Political Reform added a supplementary opinion stating that “city and provincial councils should make efforts to ensure that the purpose of the redistricting plan is actively reflected,” in an effort to prevent the chronic problem of “splitting up” basic council electoral districts by metropolitan councils. This supplementary opinion was adopted through bipartisan agreement to realize the committee’s intention of expanding proportional representation, including the pilot implementation of multi-member districts.

The Special Committee on Political Reform stated, “However, at the local level, the purpose of the committee has been completely disregarded,” and added, “The Daegu Metropolitan Council and North Gyeongsang Provincial Council arbitrarily altered and cut up the basic council redistricting plans intended to expand multi-member districts, splitting 3- and 4-member districts into 2-member districts as they saw fit.”

In Daegu, the redistricting plan proposed by the committee consisted of four 2-member districts, twenty-three 3-member districts, eight 4-member districts, and one 5-member district. However, the Daegu Metropolitan Council approved a plan with eighteen 2-member districts, twenty-three 3-member districts, one 4-member district, and one 5-member district, splitting six 4-member districts into fourteen 2-member districts.

In North Gyeongsang Province, the redistricting committee submitted a plan with sixty-three 2-member districts, thirty-eight 3-member districts, and two 4-member districts. However, the provincial council approved a plan with sixty-nine 2-member districts, thirty-four 3-member districts, and two 4-member districts. In particular, all of the basic council electoral districts in Buk-gu, Pohang City were split up. Whereas the redistricting plan had five 3-member districts for Buk-gu, the council's final plan divided them into six 2-member districts and one 3-member district.

The Democratic Party members of the Special Committee on Political Reform declared, “We strongly condemn the Daegu and North Gyeongsang provincial councils for carrying out the splitting of basic council electoral districts,” and added, “We will pursue the necessary legislative measures to correct this situation, in which the preferences of a single party dominating the metropolitan council override the choices of voters.”

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