The Democratic Party of Korea's task force on political reform held its first meeting at the National Assembly on the 3rd, launching its work with the goal of discussing broader support for politicians without parliamentary seats and the revival of local party chapters.
"South Korea's political system can be summed up as a single-member district system that favors sitting lawmakers," Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok said at the meeting. "That raises the question of what to do about those outside parliament and what to do about the electoral system."
Kim also stressed the need for institutional support for politicians without seats. "The question of what to do about those outside parliament divides into a matter of institutions and a matter of support," he said. "District chairs who are not lawmakers have been allowed to keep local offices, but whether the party will go so far as to fund them is a separate issue." He added that "the electoral system, the question of runoff voting and the question of revitalizing district committees may also be raised."
The gap in local campaigning conditions between sitting lawmakers and politicians outside parliament has long been raised in political circles. The clearest example is that sitting lawmakers may run constituency offices, while politicians without seats faced restrictions on operating one.
Some of those restrictions were eased when the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Political Parties Act in April. The amendment created a legal basis for setting up and operating offices for party member councils, which had been banned since local party chapters were abolished in 2004, allowing politicians outside parliament to keep local offices.
Democratic Party district chairs without seats, however, argued that the changes remain insufficient. "The entity that maintains a district committee office is the central party or the metropolitan and provincial party organization," said Choi Taek-yong, head of the party's association of district chairs outside parliament. "Rather than being something needed to shape the political will of the public, the revision of the Political Parties Act amounted to little more than adding one branch office of the central party or a metropolitan or provincial party."
He also stressed the need for local party chapters. "The organization that communicates with the public on a daily basis and takes part in forming the public's political will is not the central party but the local party chapter," Choi said. "The local party chapters need to be revived."
