Choi Moon-gi, People Power Party Preliminary Candidate for Jungnang-eul, Faces 'False Information Entry' Controversy

Affiliated with the Legislative Policy Research Association
Introduced as a 'National Assembly Legislative Policy Research Committee Member'
Election Commission: "Potential Violation of Election Law"

Choi Moon-gi, a preliminary candidate of the People Power Party running for Seoul Jungnang-eul in the upcoming general election, is causing controversy in political circles by introducing himself as a ‘National Assembly Legislative Policy Research Committee Member.’ The main issue is that he belongs to the Incorporated Association Legislative Policy Research Association but described himself as a National Assembly Legislative Policy Research Committee Member, causing confusion with the National Assembly Policy Research Committee. Choi’s camp claims it is “customary,” but the controversy is expected to grow due to the possibility of violating election laws.

On the 3rd of this month, a banner introducing Choi, a preliminary candidate of the People Power Party for Seoul Jungnang-eul, as the "current National Assembly Legislative Policy Research Committee member" was displayed at Choi's election office located in Jungnang-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Choi's blog]

According to political circles on the 12th, Choi introduced himself as a current National Assembly Legislative Policy Research Committee Member on his social media (SNS) and business cards. However, there is no position called Legislative Policy Research Committee Member in the National Assembly. Instead, there are policy research committee members of each party according to the National Assembly Act and the Incorporated Association Legislative Policy Research Association registered with the National Assembly Secretariat. Choi belongs to the Incorporated Association Legislative Policy Research Association.

Policy research committee members of negotiation groups are treated as special service national public officials while assisting the legislative activities of the members belonging to the negotiation group, according to Article 34 of the National Assembly Act.

On the other hand, the Legislative Policy Research Association to which Choi belongs is an incorporated association under the jurisdiction of the National Assembly Secretariat, autonomously operated through its own corporate resources. Policy research committee members are part-time members, not public officials. The Incorporated Association Legislative Policy Research Association appointed Choi as a policy development committee member on the 1st of last month.

Choi explained, “It is true that I belong to the Incorporated Association Legislative Policy Research Association, but I described myself as a National Assembly Legislative Policy Research Committee Member as a matter of custom,” and added, “I received a response from the Election Commission that there was no problem when registering as a preliminary candidate.”

However, on the 6th of this month, the Legislative Policy Research Association announced on its website, “When registering candidates with the Election Commission, the corporate name must be accurately registered and used as ‘Incorporated Association Legislative Policy Research Association,’ ‘(Inc.) Legislative Policy Research Association,’ ‘(National Assembly Jurisdiction) Incorporated Association Legislative Policy Research Association,’ or ‘(Inc.) Legislative Policy Research Association (National Assembly Jurisdiction),’ not as ‘National Assembly Legislative Policy Research Association,’” adding, “This is to prevent candidates from disadvantages such as unclear organization names or falsification of career records during future verification of candidate career facts.”

In response, an official from the Election Commission stated, “If false information is recorded causing confusion among voters depending on the facts, it may constitute a violation of election laws.”