Why Is "The Democratic Party of Korea" Allowed but "Proportional OO Party" Not?

The Election Commission Focuses on Values Such as Policies and Beliefs, Not Just Names
'Proportional Representation' Is Difficult to See as Containing Values

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Why is 'The Democratic Party of Korea' allowed, but 'Proportional OO Party' is not? The National Election Commission (NEC) has made whether a party name contains values such as policies and beliefs the main criterion when deciding party names.

Kwon Soon-il, Chairman of the Central Election Commission, is attending the full committee meeting discussing the approval of proportional party name usage at the Central Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on the 13th, and is striking the gavel. / Gwacheon = Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On the 13th, the NEC explained, "'Proportional' in its dictionary meaning alone is difficult to see as a word that contains any values such as a party's policies or political beliefs, so it cannot be considered to have an independently important meaning, nor can it be said that a new concept distinct from already registered parties arises from combining it with the word 'Proportional.'"

It added, "'Proportional OO Party' may cause a so-called halo effect where the meaning of 'Proportional' is recognized as the same party that nominated district candidates," expressing concerns about voter confusion.

The NEC's judgment appears to be that the expression 'Proportional' is unlikely to contain the party's values. In the founding preparatory committee's statement, Proportional Liberty Korea Party said, "We will counter trickery with cleverness, and rushed filibustering with fairness and lawfulness, and we will definitely win the next general election and show the people that justice is alive." This suggests that the Proportional Korea Party is more of a means to secure seats for the Korea Party rather than presenting new values contrasting with the existing Korea Party.

Some have criticized the inconsistency of standards, pointing out that in 2015, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy changed its party name to 'The Democratic Party of Korea' by adding 'Deobureo' (meaning 'Together') while the existing Democratic Party name already existed.

At that time, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy decided the party name 'The Democratic Party of Korea' through a public contest. Son Hyewon, then the publicity commissioner of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, said, "Those who gave opinions asked to create a great party together with the people, fresh politicians, innovation, and the weak." The party name itself was not an issue then. Instead, the abbreviation 'The Minjoo Party' was changed to 'The Minjoo' because it overlapped with the non-parliamentary Democratic Party.

In cases like The Democratic Party of Korea and the Democratic Party, or the Peace Democratic Party and the Unified Democratic Party, they presented values that could distinguish them from existing parties, but party names with only 'Proportional' added could only increase voter confusion.

An NEC official told Asia Economy, "The approval of the party name 'Proportional OO Party' was comprehensively judged based on various criteria such as the party's policies, beliefs, and voter perspectives, not simply whether the names were similar," adding, "It could not be judged based on the name alone."

However, the NEC stated, "It is possible to apply for party registration under a different name that does not violate Article 41 of the Political Parties Act," leaving open the possibility of satellite party formation.