Hong Ik-pyo: "The Ruling Party Must Agree to Prevent Satellite Parties... If Not, We Will Reassess"

Democratic Party Floor Leader Urges Agreement on Election System in Political Reform Special Committee
"If No Agreement by the 15th, Party Will Reconsider Decision"

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, urged the ruling party to agree on improving the 'satellite party prevention' system.

At the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 7th, Floor Leader Hong stated, "The most unreasonable loophole in the current electoral system is the satellite party prevention system, but there has been no proper progress so far," and added, "I urge the ruling party to take a progressive stance on this." He continued, "I have requested the chairman and the floor leader of the Special Committee on Political Reform in the National Assembly to reach an agreement on improving the system to prevent satellite parties by the 15th of this month," emphasizing, "If the deadline passes without an agreement, the Democratic Party will reconsider its judgment accordingly."

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Regarding the electoral system reform, the Democratic Party has not yet established a party line between maintaining the current semi-proportional representation system and reverting to the parallel voting system. Within the party, voices advocating for maintaining the semi-proportional system while introducing measures such as the satellite party prevention law are gaining strength. However, survey results suggesting that the parallel voting system is more advantageous for the Democratic Party to win the general election have put the party leadership in a dilemma.

Meanwhile, recently, Representative Lee Jae-myung stated on a YouTube live broadcast on the 28th of last month, "What use is it to lose gracefully?" This has led to speculation that the party leadership might be leaning toward reverting to the parallel voting system. In particular, the controversy has intensified as Floor Leader Hong responded to a question about electoral reform on CBS Radio on the 5th by saying, "Do we have to keep all promises?"

For now, the Democratic Party plans to observe whether a bipartisan agreement will be reached in the Special Committee on Political Reform. Democratic Party floor leader Kim Young-bae explained at the policy coordination meeting that day, "After a meeting between the Speaker of the National Assembly and the floor leaders of both parties at 11 a.m. today, negotiations on electoral district delimitation and the satellite party prevention law, including electoral system-related matters, are scheduled to begin between the floor leaders of the Special Committee on Political Reform of both parties in the afternoon."

Kim emphasized, "We will strive to promptly conclude discussions on the electoral system, including the satellite party prevention law, during the afternoon negotiations." He added, "The delimitation of electoral districts for National Assembly members must adhere to the Public Official Election Act and the standards proposed by the National Assembly, reflecting the predictability for voters. We will complete negotiations after sufficient discussions on any unprincipled and biased delimitation plans and will re-delimit accordingly."

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Im Oh-kyung, the floor spokesperson, told reporters immediately after the meeting, "As the floor leader stated, if the Special Committee on Political Reform reaches an agreement on the satellite party prevention law, we plan to proceed with decision-making at the party level," adding, "The ruling party must reach an agreement within a short time in the Special Committee on Political Reform." When asked about reports that the party leadership has decided to revert to the parallel voting system, she flatly denied, saying, "That is not true at all."