The Democratic Party's Platform Includes 'Administrative Capital Relocation' and 'Land Publicness'

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Ahead of the August 29 party convention, the Democratic Party of Korea has prepared a revised party platform including the ‘relocation of the administrative capital’ and ‘public nature of land.’

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Democratic Party’s National Delegate Convention Preparation Committee (Chairman Ahn Gyu-baek) held a press briefing at the National Assembly that morning to announce these details.

Jang Cheol-min, spokesperson for the preparation committee, stated at the briefing, “We prepared the revised platform to reflect the changes of the times, the will of the candlelight protests, and the national agenda of the Moon Jae-in and Democratic Party governments.”

In the revised platform, the Democratic Party included the concept of relocating the administrative capital, stating, “We will vigorously promote the relocation of the administrative capital to complete decentralization that substantially guarantees local governments’ autonomy and balanced national development.”

It also specified the Korean New Deal, saying, “Through the Korean New Deal project, we will promote the transition to a digital and green economy and the growth of future new industries,” and mentioned the public nature of land by stating, “We will strengthen the public nature of land property rights and actively pursue housing policies that guarantee stable housing rights for all citizens.”

To prevent misconduct by elected officials and key party officers, the Democratic Party decided to establish an Ethics Inspection Team as a permanent inspection body directly under the party leader and to operate an Ethics Reporting Center on an ongoing basis. Party regulations will be revised to mandate gender sensitivity and gender equality education and extend the existing disciplinary statute of limitations from two to three years. For sexual crimes, the disciplinary statute of limitations will be abolished, and measures to prevent evasion of discipline will be implemented.

Spokesperson Jang added, “We have revised the party constitution and regulations to facilitate smoother political participation and party activities for women and youth.” The Democratic Party codified that women must constitute at least 50% of major committees related to public office selection, such as the Public Office Candidate Verification Committee, and amended related party rules to ensure that the floor leader group and the election management committee comply with the existing party constitution requirement of at least 30% female representation.

Additionally, the revision introduced a clause on the ‘realization of youth rights’ and allocated 3% of the party’s government subsidy budget as an independent budget for the National Youth Committee.

At the press briefing, Chairman Ahn Gyu-baek said, “While leading the preparation committee, I focused on setting the right direction rather than speed. The Democratic Party will run vigorously in step with the people. This will determine the future that will shape Korea for the next six years.” He added, “The Democratic Party will not be swayed by momentary emotions but will feel the temperature of the people and achieve a vigorous advance of democracy.”