National Assembly Political Reform Special Committee Begins Electoral District Redistricting Discussions... Democratic Party Holds Meeting Today

Chairman Nam In-soon Requests Schedule Agreement from Policy Special Committee Secretary
Ruling Party Special Committee Members to Discuss Major Electoral District System on the Morning of the 4th

[Asia Economy Reporters Naju-seok and Kim Young-won] The National Assembly's Special Committee on Political Reform will begin discussions this month on electoral district reform, including the introduction of a large multi-member district system. This move appears to accelerate the revision of the election law, following the 'ball' set in motion by President Yoon Seok-yeol and National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo.

According to the National Assembly on the 4th, Nam In-soon, chairperson of the Special Committee on Political Reform (Democratic Party of Korea), requested the floor leaders of both ruling and opposition parties to coordinate dates for a plenary session and the first and second bill review subcommittees within January. A committee official stated, "The first subcommittee, which handles the National Assembly Advancement Act, needs to put forward the next agenda, and the second subcommittee, which discusses the election law, also requires agenda review," adding, "The chairperson has requested to schedule these within this month."

Electoral District Reform Initiated by President Yoon Seok-yeol and Speaker Kim Jin-pyo

Earlier, on the 2nd, President Yoon Seok-yeol said in a New Year's interview with Chosun Ilbo, "It is necessary to consider ways to strengthen representativeness through a large multi-member district system," and added, "Depending on regional characteristics, methods to elect 2, 3, or 4 members could also be considered." On the same day, Speaker Kim Jin-pyo stated, "We plan to finalize the electoral system for next year's general election by mid-March," pointing out the problems of the current single-member district system and emphasizing the need to establish a new electoral system.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The ruling party, People Power Party, has also begun related discussions. According to a ruling party official from the Special Committee on Political Reform, floor leader Joo Ho-young and the party's special committee members plan to discuss the large multi-member district system at a meeting scheduled for 9:30 a.m. that day. The official said, "There had been no discussions until now," and added, "We are only now starting the discussions."

The meeting is held just one day after Floor Leader Joo said, "I will have a first discussion with the special committee members and, if necessary, hold a policy meeting to gather opinions."

The single-member district system elects one lawmaker per electoral district, which has been criticized for generating many wasted votes and deepening regionalism. As an alternative, the large multi-member district system, which elects 2 to 3 lawmakers per district, has been proposed.

However, it is uncertain whether the electoral system will change starting from next year's general election. According to election law, the electoral district system must be finalized by April, one year before the general election, but since individual lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties have differing interests, revising the law is expected to be difficult. In fact, at the People Power Party's floor strategy meeting the previous day, lawmakers Kim Tae-ho and Lee Tae-gyu publicly supported the transition to a large multi-member district system, but most lawmakers reportedly expressed reluctance. Some fear that adopting the large multi-member district system could reduce the number of seats in Yeongnam, a stronghold of the ruling party.

Kim Sung-hwan, policy chief of the Democratic Party, also said at a press briefing held at the National Assembly the previous day, "Personally, the large multi-member district system is a much more convenient system for major parties to divide seats among themselves," and added, "If we consider which system has more problems, it has been proven worldwide that the large multi-member district system has greater drawbacks so far."

On the same day, Representative Yoon Gun-young appeared on MBC Radio and said, "Political reform will hardly be completed by just one form of the large multi-member district system," and warned, "It should never be thought of as a panacea." He emphasized, "In last year's local elections, the large multi-member district system was piloted in 30 regions, but only 4 places elected candidates from third parties rather than the two major parties," stressing, "National consensus and sufficient public discussion must be prerequisites."