Nam Seonguk "Politicians Overestimate the Public's Level"

"Many Confusions in the Proportional Representation System Cause Public Confusion"
"Remarks Intending to Oppose the Satellite Party System"

At the 22nd National Assembly general election, Nam Seong-wook, director of the Korea University Institute for Unification and Convergence, who ran as number 20 on the proportional representation list of the People’s Future, a satellite party of the People Power Party, stated on the 7th, "Politicians think too highly of the level of the Korean people." Nam explained that the repeated election-time mergers and splits of satellite parties, along with confusing party names, hinder voters' ability to make clear choices.

Nam made these remarks while presenting at the 'Two Years of the Yoon Suk-yeol Government: Achievements and Challenges Seminar' hosted by the office of People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun at the National Assembly Members' Office Building that afternoon, criticizing the culture and naming of satellite parties.

Earlier, Nam joined the People Power Party in January as a recruited talent in the diplomacy and security sector, and was nominated as number 20 on the proportional representation list of the People’s Future, the People Power Party’s satellite party, in the last general election. The People’s Future secured seats up to number 18 (candidate Park Jun-tae).

On the afternoon of the 7th, Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, held a seminar titled "Two Years of the Yoon Suk-yeol Government: Achievements and Challenges" at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul.

Professor Shin Yul from Myongji University (from the left), Representative Yoon, Representative Yoon Chang-hyun, and Nam Sung-wook, Director of the Korea University Institute for Unification and Convergence Research, are seated.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Nam said, "During this election campaign, voters kept asking me, 'Why doesn’t the People Power Party have any proportional representation candidates?'" He added, "So some people ended up voting for the former party names, Saenuri Party or Hannara Party," and questioned, "What is the name People’s Future? It should be alongside People Power Party, or People Power Party 2." He concluded, "Politicians think too highly of the level of the Korean people."

Nam also pointed out, "It was a failure of many strategies," and criticized, "Conservatives are good at splitting." He said, "The Liberty Unification Party (a conservative party) circulated the slogan 'Youth in their twenties' (constituency number 2, proportional number 8), which caused a 2.26% drop in the People’s Future proportional vote share," and added, "I don’t understand why those who support President Yoon Suk-yeol acted that way during the election."

Regarding these remarks, Nam told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "There was a lot of confusion about the proportional representation system, causing many difficulties for voters in choosing proportional representatives," and explained, "From what I saw on the ground, people asked, 'How do we vote?' and 'Why are there no candidates numbered 1 or 2?' Experiencing this, I felt that satellite parties make it difficult for voters to choose, so I spoke out against the satellite party system."

The seminar was organized to explore ways to lead changes in the ruling party following its crushing defeat in the general election. Attendees included lawmakers Kim Young-sik, Yoon Sang-hyun, Yoon Chang-hyun, and Chu Kyung-ho; Bae Jong-chan, director of Insight K Research Institute; Lee Cheol-in, professor of economics at Seoul National University; Shin Yul, professor of political science and diplomacy at Myongji University; and Nam Seong-wook.