Election System Reform, What Direction Do the People Want? Special Committee on Electoral Reform to Hold Public Discussions on the 6th and 13th

Four Agendas Including District and Proportional Representatives
Deliberative Discussion for 500 Citizen Participants

The National Assembly's Special Committee on Political Reform (Jeonggae Special Committee) will hold a 'deliberative forum' for citizens regarding the 'electoral system reform' it is promoting ahead of next year's general election. Attention is focused on how much the opinions of the electorate, the citizens, can be reflected in the electoral reform discussions led by the political sphere.

On the 3rd, Nam In-soon, chairperson of the Jeonggae Special Committee, announced at the National Assembly, "We plan to conduct a public discussion on the reform of the National Assembly electoral system for a 500-member citizen participation group over two days, on the 6th and 13th."

Chairperson Nam said, "This public discussion process is important to raise public awareness about the electoral system," adding, "It will be broadcast live through KBS, and the results will be announced immediately at the closing ceremony on the 13th."

The Jeonggae Special Committee had selected a consortium consisting of Korea Research, the Institute for Social Development at Seoul National University, and the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) as a cooperating partner to carry out the public discussion project on April 13.

This public survey will be conducted by a 500-member citizen participation group recruited proportionally by region, gender, and age. They will gather at the KBS headquarters (251 people) and four regional bureaus (Daejeon 67, Daegu 48, Gwangju 57, Busan 77) near their residential areas to discuss key issues related to the National Assembly electoral system, including constituency and proportional representation.

The citizen participants will study the National Assembly electoral system beforehand through provided booklets and video materials before participating in the meetings.

Over two days, on the 6th and 13th, the deliberative process will include four panel discussions with presentations and debates, six expert Q&A sessions, and five subgroup discussions, through which the public survey will be conducted.

There are four main agenda items for the public survey. The first agenda is the principles and goals of electoral system reform, discussing overcoming the winner-takes-all electoral system, alleviating regionalism in party structures, and responding to the crisis of local extinction by enhancing proportionality, representativeness, and accountability of election results and establishing an electoral system acceptable to the public.

The second agenda concerns the size of constituency electoral districts: deliberations will be held on single-member districts (electing one person per district), medium-sized districts (electing 3 to 5 persons per district), and large districts (electing 5 or more persons per district). Additionally, as a measure to enhance representation in rural farming and fishing areas, the mixed urban-rural district system will be discussed.

The third agenda is the method of electing proportional representation members of the National Assembly. Discussions will cover the proportional representation election units (nationwide/region), seat allocation methods (parallel system/mixed-member proportional system), and list formation methods (closed/open lists) to identify the proportional representation electoral system preferred by the public.

Finally, the ratio of constituency to proportional representation seats and the total number of assembly members will be discussed. Based on the previously discussed agendas, the 500-member citizen participation group will deliberate on the ratio of constituency to proportional representation seats to enhance proportionality and representativeness of election results, and will also discuss the necessity of changing the current total number of National Assembly members linked to the seat ratio.

The first and second agendas will be addressed on the first day, the 6th, and the third and fourth agendas on the second day, the 13th.

For each agenda, three experts (one presenter and two discussants) will participate to support the 500-member citizen participation group in conducting in-depth deliberations.

Chairperson Nam said, "I am aware of the great expectations for the first-ever national public survey on electoral system reform in Korean political history," adding, "Through this deliberative public survey, confirming the diverse opinions of the public and reflecting them in the electoral system reform discussions will play an important role in designing an electoral system acceptable to both the public and the political sphere."

He continued, "As chairperson of the Special Committee on Political Reform, I will do my utmost with a sense of mission to create a National Assembly electoral system that the public truly desires," emphasizing, "Please watch this public discussion process with interest."

In response to reporters' questions about what would happen if public opinion turned negative, he said, "I believe that whatever results come out of the national public survey should be reflected as they are," adding, "This is not a one-off opinion poll but involves providing materials and multiple discussions, so I think the 500 participants, representing the public, will engage in in-depth discussions."