{"id":2199914,"date":"2023-01-18T10:01:28","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T10:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2199914"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:10:20","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:10:20","slug":"how-south-koreas-left-and-right-could-benefit-from-proposed-election-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/01\/how-south-koreas-left-and-right-could-benefit-from-proposed-election-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"How South Korea\u2019s left and right could benefit from proposed election reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Korea may soon undertake one of the most significant political reforms in its democratic history.<\/span><\/p>\n In a recent interview, President Yoon Suk-yeol <\/span>suggested overhauling<\/span><\/a> the country\u2019s parliamentary election system from its current single-member constituency system to a <\/span>multi-member district<\/span> constituency system.<\/span><\/p>\n Under the current system, South Korean voters <\/span>receive<\/span><\/a> two ballot papers when voting in parliamentary elections. They cast one to choose a single district candidate and they cast the other to pick their proportional representative candidate.<\/span><\/p>\n However, if Yoon gets his way, voters will soon be able to elect two to four lawmakers to represent a single electoral district. Under a <\/span>multi-member district<\/span> system, each voter would still cast one ballot for their preferred candidate, but each district\u2019s multiple seats would be allocated to those candidates who win the highest number of votes.<\/span><\/p>\n The potential benefits have allowed the proposed system to gain bipartisan support from across the ROK media landscape <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>from the conservative <\/span>Chosun Ilbo<\/span><\/i> newspaper<\/span><\/a> to the progressive <\/span>Hankyoreh<\/span><\/i> newspaper<\/span><\/a>. But deep-seated suspicions might scuttle the president’s apparent plans for change before he even begins.<\/span><\/p>\n