{"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

\"\"

South Korean National Assembly, Sept. 2014, via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

BENEFITS OF THE NEW SYSTEM<\/b><\/p>\n

At present, over <\/span>80%<\/span><\/a> of National Assembly members are elected in single-member districts and the rest are elected through proportional representation. The new system is designed to incentivize more people to vote in elections, as it would theoretically open the door to candidates from less influential parties to hold office.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although South Korea currently has multiple political parties and its parliamentary elections follow first-past-the-post voting rules, in practice, it has a de facto two-party system. A <\/span>multi-member district<\/span> constituency system that favors multi-party structures may thus compel more people to feel invested in the electoral process.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s political geography is largely determined by <\/span>three regions<\/span><\/a>: the Seoul metropolitan area, and the southeast and southwest portions of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since 2004, progressives have <\/span>mostly done well<\/span><\/a> in Seoul. In the <\/span>2020<\/span><\/a> elections, the Democratic Party (DP) won <\/span>103 seats<\/span><\/a> while the conservative People Power Party (PPP) managed to score only 17 in the capital metro area. However, the difference in the actual number of votes the progressive and conservative candidates received isn\u2019t as large.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the rival parties agreed to reform the electoral process system to the <\/span>multi-member district<\/span> constituency system, the gap in the number of seats progressives and conservatives win in the Seoul metropolitan area will likely diminish due to the small difference in the actual number of cast ballots.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While this will clearly benefit the conservatives, progressives would most likely still support the move because of the political windfall they might receive in the southeast.<\/span><\/p>\n

The southeast of South Korea is a conservative stronghold, anchored by the country\u2019s fourth-largest city, Daegu. But the DP has better-than-expected approval ratings in the region \u2014 as high as 30% according to some <\/span>recent polls<\/span><\/a>. The current electoral system, however, gives the DP just a handful of seats in Daegu and the southeast.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the most recent election, the DP won <\/span>seven seats<\/span><\/a> while the conservatives won 58 seats.<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to the non-insignificant level of latent support that progressives might enjoy in the region, DP lawmakers would be able to win more seats in the region if the government agrees to adopt the new <\/span>multi-member district<\/span> constituency system, which would put a huge dent in the conservative political machine.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, the DP does not feel it needs to worry about the southwest region, its traditional stronghold, because conservatives have virtually zero support there.<\/span><\/p>\n

MIXED RESPONSE<\/b><\/p>\n

Despite the potential benefits of the <\/span>multi-member district<\/span> constituency system and support from media on both the left and right, the reaction to Yoon\u2019s proposal among politicians has been mixed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Former unification minister Lee In-young, a progressives stalwart and DP lawmaker, expressed suspicion of Yoon\u2019s goals. Lee <\/span>retorted<\/span><\/a> that Yoon\u2019s real agenda for his proposed electoral reform is to establish a dominant one-party system with the PPP as its main beneficiary, not unlike the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, his fellow DP member and former interior minister Jeon Hae-cheol was <\/span>ambivalent<\/span><\/a> about Yoon\u2019s plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reactions among conservatives were just as mixed. The PPP\u2019s floor leader Joo Ho-young <\/span>welcomed<\/span><\/a> the plan but the party\u2019s Emergency Response Committee Chairman Chung Jin-suk <\/span>expressed<\/span><\/a> a pessimistic attitude toward it because he feared that the new system might foster intra-party factionalism.<\/span><\/p>\n

While there are concerns on both sides of the aisle about the proposal, many of the fears are groundless. Japan was one of the few countries in the world that <\/span>used<\/span><\/a> a multi-member district constituency system before switching to its current single constituency system in 1996.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to its reform, many people in Japan <\/span>believed<\/span><\/a> that the SNTV system was responsible for the LDP\u2019s ability to keep a monopolistic hold on power. However, the dismantling of the system in 1996 barely had any impact on the LDP\u2019s standing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, the lukewarm support that Yoon\u2019s proposal for legislative electoral reform has received from progressives and conservatives means that there is a low probability of it getting introduced before the 2024 legislative elections.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, as the campaign season takes off later this year, observers can expect South Koreans to raise this topic with greater frequency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Edited by John Lee<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Korea may soon undertake one of the most significant political reforms in its democratic history. In a recent interview, President Yoon Suk-yeol suggested overhauling the country\u2019s parliamentary election system from its current single-member constituency system to a multi-member district constituency system. Under the current system, South Korean voters receive two ballot papers when voting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2199917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[27],"yoast_head":"\nHow South Korea\u2019s left and right could benefit from proposed election reforms - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/01\/how-south-koreas-left-and-right-could-benefit-from-proposed-election-reforms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How South Korea\u2019s left and right could benefit from proposed election reforms - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Korea may soon undertake one of the most significant political reforms in its democratic history. 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