Sim Sang-jung: "The President's Remarks Are a Catalyst for Political Reform"

SBS Radio Interview, "Expected Election System Reform"
"Cannot Move Forward with Fandom Politics"
"Must Institutionalize Cooperation and Move Toward Multi-Party Coalition"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] On the 12th, Sim Sang-jung, a member of the Justice Party, stated regarding the issue of electoral system reform, "Especially when meeting members of the People Power Party, many seem to be gauging President Yoon Seok-yeol's intentions. From that perspective, I think the President's remarks have acted as a catalyst to promote discussions on political reform."

In an interview with SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' on the same day, Sim said, "Among President Yoon Seok-yeol's remarks, it is important to focus on the point that the current single-member district system is too competitive, leading to polarization and deepening conflicts, so there is a need to strengthen representativeness." Sim also mentioned that she expected electoral district reform to become a key topic in the political sphere at the beginning of the year.

Sim explained, "It depends on what kind of large electoral district system it is and what other systems it is combined with, so rather than debating that, it is important that the President spoke about the necessity of electoral system reform to strengthen representativeness."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Sim said, "In my view, regardless of party affiliation, what members of the National Assembly agree on is that with such extreme factional politics and fandom politics as we have now, South Korea cannot move forward any longer."

Sim explained, "Institutionalizing cooperation and moving towards a multi-party coalition government is the consensus among the majority of lawmakers. Then, in the process of designing a system that fits this, it would be better to proceed in an order that carefully adjusts the interests among lawmakers, the interests of the metropolitan area and provinces, and the interests among political parties."

Sim said, "We do not think the previous semi-proportional representation system was an ideal system. We consider it the minimum level of political reform, a heavily distorted minimum."

Sim criticized, "Even that was all sunk by satellite parties. The reason for this was ultimately the lack of sufficient consensus in the political sphere, the main opposition party did not participate, and since it became a subject of political strife, under extreme confrontational politics, there was insufficient public agreement."

Sim said, "There are core causes of distrust in meetings. For example, issues of morality or constant fighting. I think it is necessary to show the public a self-innovative attitude regarding these problems and make such proposals if needed. Therefore, I believe it is unwise to lead discussions by focusing on the number of lawmakers."