National Assembly Debate Hosted by Rep. Kim Min-jeon
Chairman of Election Commission and Supreme Court Justice Dual Role for 60 Years... No Legal Basis
Choo Kyung-ho "Issues Raised on Fair Elections... Review Needed"
Concerns have been raised that the part-time system of the Election Commission, which has been in place for 60 years, and the practice of Supreme Court justices concurrently serving as chairpersons of the Election Commission are undermining neutrality and independence, highlighting the need for reform.
On the morning of the 20th at 10 a.m., a National Assembly forum titled "Abolition of Concurrent Positions of Election Commission Chairperson and Supreme Court Justice and Introduction of a Full-time System" was held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, hosted by Kim Min-jeon, a member of the People Power Party.
Earlier, last month, Representative Kim proposed amendments to the Election Commission Act and the Court Organization Act that would prohibit sitting Supreme Court justices from concurrently serving as chairpersons of the Central Election Commission and strengthen election management responsibilities by making the chairperson positions of the central and city/provincial election commissions full-time.
In his opening remarks, Representative Kim stated, "Since its establishment in 1963, the Election Commission has been an institution leading political reform in Korea," adding, "From the 2020 general election, we saw a large number of unusual ballots that we had never seen before, and in the 2022 presidential election, there were basket ballots. At that time, the chairperson of the Election Commission was not even coming to work."
He continued, "There is no law that allows a Supreme Court justice to concurrently serve as the chairperson of the Central Election Commission. If the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court decides, it is possible to prohibit Supreme Court justices from concurrently holding the chairperson position," explaining the purpose of holding the forum by saying, "I realized that raising public awareness is very important."
Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, also said, "As elections become more complex and issues regarding fair elections, fair voting, and vote counting arise, it is time to take a closer look at the issue of Supreme Court justices concurrently serving as chairpersons of the Election Commission," adding, "Together with my fellow lawmakers, I will do my best to ensure that this issue is comprehensively reviewed and established as a proper system."
Kim Sang-hoon, chairman of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, who was in charge of election management negotiations such as the confirmation of electoral districts for the April 10 general election and the party's Fair Election Management Task Force (TF), also remarked, "Is the part-time system, where members come and go like guests, really appropriate? I judged that it would not help fair election management," adding, "Although the Election Commission is making great efforts to restore trust due to recruitment corruption, this aspect (the part-time system of the Election Commission and the concurrent position of Supreme Court justices as chairpersons) also needs to be seriously reviewed."
At the forum, Jang Yong-geun, professor at the College of Law at Hongik University, presented on the topic "Constitutional Validity of Prohibiting Judges from Concurrently Serving as Chairpersons of the Election Commission to Guarantee Fairness and Independence of the Election Commission."
Following this, Park Hyun-seok, secretary general of the Korean Political Science Association, served as the moderator, and discussants included Shin Bong-gi, professor at Kyungpook National University Law School; Cho Jin-man, professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Duksung Women's University; Chae Jin-won, professor at the Public Governance Research Institute at Kyung Hee University; Cho Won-yong, professor at the Election Training Institute of the Central Election Commission; and Heo Seok-jae, legislative researcher of the Political and Parliamentary Affairs Team at the National Assembly Research Service.
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