Assemblyman Seo Samsuk Opposes 'Electoral District Delimitation' Ignoring Rural Realities

Accelerated Regional Extinction Due to Population-Based Electoral District Delimitation

Repeated Contradictory Electoral District Delimitation, Government and Parties Irresponsible

"Electoral District Delimitation Must Strengthen Regional Re

Seo Sam-seok, Chairman of the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Special Committee and member of the National Assembly (Democratic Party, Yeongam·Muan·Shinan), stated that the 22nd general election district delimitation plan submitted to the National Assembly on the 5th by the National Assembly Electoral District Delimitation Committee under the Central Election Commission “is absolutely unacceptable as it ignores the realities of rural areas.”

Rural electoral districts for National Assembly elections have experienced fluctuations every election due to population-based district delimitation, which forms electoral districts by combining adjacent areas when the population falls below the standard.

Seo said, “It has reached a dire situation where one National Assembly member must be elected from six cities and counties based on population standards,” adding, “In a situation where agriculture, rural areas, and farmers are in a life-or-death crisis due to population decline, this will not only fail to overcome the collapse of rural fishing villages and regional extinction but will accelerate it further.”

Under the current law, which prohibits splitting autonomous districts, cities, and counties and bases delimitation on population, rural areas with small populations must repeatedly be attached to and detached from other regional electoral districts during delimitation. As a result, cities and counties with different living and cultural environments are combined, causing the number of seats in rural areas to continuously decrease.

At the plenary meeting of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts held at the National Assembly, Chairman Seo Sam-seok is speaking. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Furthermore, frequent changes in electoral districts can cause political fatigue among local residents and disrupt ongoing and pending projects due to broken links between regions, potentially hindering regional development.

On October 26, the Constitutional Court ruled that the delimitation of the electoral district in Suncheon City, Jeollanam-do, which split the district into two and integrated part of it into Gwangyang City, did not violate the constitution despite a constitutional complaint claiming it deprived residents of political participation opportunities and restricted candidacy, infringing on voting rights and equality rights. This implies that there is a low possibility of the Constitutional Court declaring a district delimitation unconstitutional even if regional representation is not reflected in the delimitation.

In response, Seo criticized, “With the current laws and systems, the predictable issue of delimiting electoral districts only shortly before elections will inevitably continue,” and added, “While contradictory district delimitation is repeated due to lack of perspective and awareness, the government and all political parties cannot escape negligence and irresponsibility.”

Unless policies and laws supporting balanced development to increase the population in local areas and disperse the population in the metropolitan area, as well as immigration policies, are established, the problem of decreasing rural electoral districts is expected to worsen.

The current Public Official Election Act only stipulates that “efforts should be made to reflect regional representation” when delimiting electoral districts but does not specify the concept of regional representation or the responsible parties for such efforts.

Seo Sam-seok emphasized, “The National Assembly must strengthen regional representation by legally stipulating the extinction of regional populations as a criterion for district delimitation, guaranteeing long-term measures such as establishing rural revival policies and improving the ‘area exception’ by law,” and expressed regret, saying, “I am sorry and feel apologetic to the residents as the electoral districts of Yeongam County, Muan County, and Shinan County, which had no issues in the 21st and 22nd National Assembly district delimitation plans four years ago, have been disintegrated.”

Meanwhile, Seo previously filed an injunction with the Supreme Court to prohibit the election due to delays in district delimitation ahead of the 20th National Assembly election in 2016.