[Change the Election]⑥ Kim Young-bae "Freeze Lawmakers' Salaries, Then Expand Proportional Representation"

Breaking Away from the 'Winner-Takes-All' Structure, Increasing Proportional Representation to Ensure Diversity
Reducing Opposition to Expanding the Number of Lawmakers, Demonstrating Sincerity with 'Salary Freeze'... Must Relinquish Established Interests
Mixed-Member Proportional Representation System, Bipartisan Agreement to "Definitely Revise"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] "Following the historically 'unpopular presidential elections,' we cannot allow the general elections to become another 'unpopular' showdown. Groups that refuse political reform will be judged in the next general election."

On the 20th, Kim Young-bae, a former Democratic Party secretary of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Political Reform (Jeonggae Special Committee) and an advisory member of the party's Political Innovation Committee, said in an interview with Asia Economy, "The entire political sphere is receiving evaluations from the public akin to impeachment. The current political system is no longer sustainable."

Since September last year, when the issue of political reform did not receive much attention, Kim has held discussions on political reform with a small number of lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties. The meeting held every Friday at 7:30 a.m. with fellow Democratic Party member Lee Tan-hee and People Power Party members Kang Min-guk and Choi Hyung-doo was the origin of the 'Bipartisan Political Reform Lawmakers' Group.' The group grew to 35 members and recently expanded to 141 after nine senior lawmakers from both parties held a separate press conference. It is expected that around 180 members will soon share the same purpose. Kim assessed that the reason many lawmakers are joining this 'bipartisan' group despite partisan conflicts is due to the urgent need for political reform discussions.

Kim said, "We have reached a point where we must eliminate the malignant tumors of politics summarized as 'endless conflict, winner-takes-all, obstructionism, regionalism, and fandom politics.' To use a human body analogy, it is beyond 'functional failure'?it is a moment groaning in pain," adding, "This is the fundamental background behind the rapid acceleration of political reform discussions."

Currently, the Jeonggae Special Committee is working to narrow down four alternatives?'single-member district + parallel proportional representation,' 'single-member district + regional and semi-linked proportional representation,' 'mixed urban-rural medium multi-member district + regional and semi-linked proportional representation,' and 'full proportional representation'?to two options. The goal is to deliver the committee's resolution to National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo by March, have all members discuss it in the plenary committee, and complete the revision of the Public Official Election Act by the legal deadline of April 10. In this process, Kim emphasized the need to strengthen proportionality and diversity. To put an end to the current unpopular politics and winner-takes-all political structure, he explained that the focus should be on increasing proportionality and representation, ending the regionalism that causes 'sweeping' phenomena, and reducing a large number of wasted votes.

Interview_Kim Young-bae, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Kim, who proposed regional proportional representation within the single-member district system, believes that the ratio of constituency seats to proportional representation seats should be 2:1 (220 seats to 110 seats) to sufficiently achieve 'proportionality.' To do so, the number of proportional representation seats must increase by 63 from the current 47, and constituency seats must decrease by 33 from 253.

The problem lies with the constituency seats. This means 33 current members of the National Assembly must give up their constituencies, raising doubts about whether anyone would willingly relinquish their stronghold to run in a more challenging district. Even if lawmakers agree to give up vested interests, there is the issue of whether the public will accept the total number of lawmakers increasing from the current 300 to 330.

Kim introduced the 'wage freeze' card. He emphasized, "Although the number of lawmakers will increase by 10%, the total annual salary of lawmakers will be frozen based on the current 300 members, so there will be no claims of increased personnel costs in the 22nd National Assembly." Along with this, he proposed maintaining the current total number of aides in lawmakers' offices to avoid additional salary expenses.

"It is not easy. Naturally, difficulties are expected."

Kim said, "There is a saying that reform is harder than revolution," stressing the need for vested interests to 'let go' to start this journey and repeatedly urged for an early departure. He said, "It must be completed before the regular session of the National Assembly opens at the latest. Otherwise, the election system reform will fail again."

This is interpreted as concern over the current lack of momentum due to the prosecution investigation of Lee Jae-myung, the party leader, and the People Power Party's leadership election. However, both ruling and opposition parties have reached consensus on the semi-linked proportional representation system, which gave rise to 'satellite parties' as a loophole, marking at least some progress. Kim said, "There is a shared recognition that reform of the semi-linked proportional representation system is essential in some form," adding, "Both parties agree that it must be fixed this time."