Assemblyman Shin Jeong-hoon’s Efforts to Persuade Leadership by Going the Extra Mile Draw Attention
The current 10 electoral districts in Jeonnam are expected to be maintained as passed in the National Assembly on this day.
Last December, the Electoral District Delimitation Committee notified the National Assembly of a plan to split Suncheon and to divide Yeongam, Muan, and Sinan into separate districts. The committee allocated 5 electoral districts to the eastern region, with 151,406 people per district, while the central and western regions were allocated 5 districts with 211,935 people each.
Shin Jeong-hoon, the Jeonnam Provincial Party Chairman and a member of the Political Affairs Special Committee, argued, "The electoral district delimitation plan, which increases urban electoral districts while consolidating rural agricultural and fishing village districts, goes against 'population equality and the representation of agricultural and fishing village areas.'"
Shin has frequently traveled between the National Assembly and the region to emphasize the problems with the Jeonnam electoral district plan proposed by the delimitation committee. In fact, he explained the "need to redraw Jeonnam electoral districts to address regional imbalance and the accelerated disappearance of agricultural and fishing villages" to party leaders including Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, floor leader Hong Ik-pyo, Secretary-General Jo Jeong-sik, and Political Affairs Special Committee Chairwoman Nam In-soon.
He led joint press conferences and sit-ins with Jeonnam and Jeonbuk lawmakers, successfully preserving one seat for Jeonbuk and correcting the Jeonnam electoral districts that caused regional imbalance.
A National Assembly official involved in the renegotiation of electoral districts evaluated, "Shin Jeong-hoon played a decisive role in maintaining the current Jeonnam electoral districts, and this was the result of his 'strong leadership.'"
Shin Jeong-hoon stated, "In the era of local extinction, to strengthen the representation of agricultural and fishing village areas, it is necessary to avoid increasing seats in the metropolitan and urban areas and minimize reductions in agricultural and fishing village seats. The repeated reduction of seats in rural areas during every election is 'killing the provinces.' He emphasized, "To promote national balanced development and respond to the disappearance of agricultural and fishing villages, institutional measures limiting the number of local governments or the area per electoral district are necessary."
The "Amendment to the 22nd National Assembly Electoral Districts," passed by the Political Affairs Special Committee, is expected to be finalized in the plenary session this evening after being notified to the National Election Commission and reviewed again by the committee.
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