[Politics X-File] Dead Person Elected? Not an Overseas Topic but in Korea

①Busan Geumjeong-gu Council Member 'Afterlife' Elected
Candidate Elected Without Any Voter Seeing Them
Missing Before Candidate Registration, Family Received Certificate Instead

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min]

Editor's Note‘Political X-File’ is a series that delivers ‘unprecedented stories’ recorded in the election results and incidents of Korean politics.

Is it possible for voters to elect a deceased person? This is not a bizarre overseas topic but an event that happened in Korea. It was an absurd incident that occurred during the May 31, 2006 nationwide simultaneous local elections.

Park Sang-gyu, a candidate from the Hannara Party, ran for district councilor. On May 16, 2006, he registered as a candidate in the ‘Geumjeong-gu Ma electoral district.’ The candidate registration was done by his family, not by himself. The electoral district was highly competitive, with as many as 10 candidates registered. It was a multi-member district system where the top three candidates were elected.

The candidates worked tirelessly to win. They handed out business cards to voters. Bowing at a 90-degree angle, they asked for votes. They went through every alley explaining why they should become district councilors.

An election official is checking the marking tools. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

However, Candidate Park did not do any of that. No voter saw him during the campaign period. Of course, he did not campaign at all. Yet, he was elected.

4,090 voters in Geumjeong-gu voted for him. He secured 12.3% of the vote, placing third. After the election, the Geumjeong-gu Election Commission was in a dilemma. They had to deliver the certificate of election, but Councilor Park did not appear. His wife received the certificate of election for the district councilor on his behalf.

It turned out that Councilor Park had effectively been missing since leaving home on May 12. Although he was not seen, he had registered as a candidate, participated in the election, and received the certificate of election. The Geumjeong-gu Council explained, “Even if he does not appear until the council’s inauguration, it is not grounds for losing or forfeiting the councilor position.”

Where had Councilor Park gone? The police focused their investigation on finding the missing man. They searched places he frequently visited and issued nationwide alerts for his vehicle. On June 10, Park’s whereabouts were finally confirmed. He was found dead in a mountain forest.

The residents of Geumjeong-gu, Busan, cast their votes for a person who no longer existed. The joke that “if a deceased person just hangs the ○○○ Party banner, they get elected” was true. It was a sarcastic remark about voters’ indiscriminate voting tendencies.

After the person who had gone missing before the district council election was found dead after being elected, legal disputes arose. If the votes for the deceased were invalidated, the candidate who placed fourth might be declared elected. If the votes were considered valid, a by-election would be necessary. The court did not accept the fourth-place candidate’s claim.

In September 2007, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s ruling dismissing the election invalidation lawsuit filed by Kim, who lost the Geumjeong-gu council election by placing fourth. The Busan High Court’s decision was supported, stating, “Since the Geumjeong-gu Election Commission did not discover the death before deciding the winner after the vote, the votes must be considered valid.”