Chairman Kim Jin-pyo Notifies Electoral District Delimitation Committee to Maintain 253 Constituency Seats

235 Days Since the Deadline for Electoral District Delimitation Passed

Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo on the 1st notified the National Assembly Constituency Delimitation Committee (Delimitation Committee) of the constituency delimitation criteria to maintain the current 253 local constituency members.The Delimitation Committee is scheduled to divide the local constituencies for next year's general election based on these criteria and resubmit them to the National Assembly.

The constituency delimitation criteria focus on maintaining the current total number of National Assembly members at 300 and the number of local constituency members at 253. It includes detailed standards such as minimally adjusting the population deviation allowance within the 2:1 ratio set by the Constitutional Court and permitting partial division of autonomous districts, cities, and counties to prevent oversized constituencies. Speaker Kim requested the submission of the delimitation plan by 2 p.m. on the 5th. After review by the Political Reform Special Committee, the plan may be requested to be resubmitted to the Delimitation Committee once again.

On the 11th, the day of the by-election for the Mayor of Gangseo-gu, Seoul, voters are casting their ballots at the 9th polling station in Banghwa 1-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The National Assembly continued discussions on electoral system reform through the Political Reform Special Committee and the plenary committee, but the ruling and opposition parties, as well as individual members, failed to reach an agreement due to differing opinions.

Previously, the Speaker proposed a so-called ‘two-track plan’ to the negotiating groups of both ruling and opposition parties, separating negotiations on constituency delimitation and proportional representation election methods. The delimitation criteria notified by Speaker Kim this time maintain the current single-member district system for electing local constituency members, excluding the proportional representation election method separately. With the schedule for preliminary candidate registration approaching, the method for electing proportional representatives remains open for political discussions, while only the local constituency seat criteria are confirmed first.

Earlier, after a party meeting, Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party, told reporters, "Speaker Kim stated that if the ruling and opposition parties do not reach an agreement regarding local constituencies, he would notify the current system," adding, "It was agreed at the party meeting to notify the Delimitation Committee of the local constituency seats as the current 253 seats."

Previously, the People Power Party also approved through a party meeting to elect local constituencies by the single-member district system. Although there were discussions about increasing or decreasing proportional representation seats, it is expected that the current 47 seats will be maintained as the criteria are notified to the Delimitation Committee.

Speaker Kim said, "According to the Public Official Election Act, the National Assembly has the obligation to finalize the National Assembly local constituencies by April 10 of this year, one year before the election," adding, "To this end, the National Assembly Constituency Delimitation Committee requested the Political Reform Special Committee three times to present constituency delimitation criteria, but due to delays in agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, the delimitation plan has not been prepared for over seven months."

He continued, "If the delay in constituency delimitation is left unattended, it will result in infringement of the rights of preliminary candidates as well as the constitutional voting rights granted to the people," and requested, "The Delimitation Committee should prepare a fair and reasonable constituency delimitation plan so that the National Assembly election can be conducted smoothly." This comes 235 days after the deadline for finalizing constituencies passed.

Regarding this, the Delimitation Committee stated, "Although the constituency delimitation criteria notified by the Speaker are not specific and the time for discussions to prepare the delimitation plan is tight, the necessity to minimize infringement on the people's voting rights due to delays in finalizing constituencies is significant. Considering the serious situation where overseas absentee voter registration has been ongoing since the 12th of last month and preliminary candidate registration will begin on the 12th of this month, marking the start of the election administrative schedule, the Delimitation Committee has agreed to do its best under the current circumstances," adding, "We will make every effort to prepare a fair and reasonable constituency delimitation plan that minimizes infringement on voters' right to know and ensures fair competition among prospective candidates."