Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, proposed lowering the threshold for forming a negotiating bloc in the National Assembly to 15 seats from the current 20. The proposal follows the case of Rep. Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party, whose withdrawal as nominee for gender equality and family minister exposed the difficult conditions facing progressive parties, and reflects Kim's intent to begin discussions in earnest on institutional changes that would allow progressive political forces to work together.
Appearing on the party's YouTube program "Minti07" on the 16th, Kim said, "As the eldest brother of the progressive political forces, the Democratic Party has reached the stage where it must lay out how to realize a progressive alliance and actually deliver it." He put forward four measures toward that alliance: easing the negotiating bloc requirement, a reasonable electoral system, runoff voting, and unifying candidacies based on competitiveness.
On easing the negotiating bloc requirement, Kim said, "The Progressive Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Basic Income Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party are all calling for this, and civil society has been calling for it as well." He added, "People seem to think that around 15 seats would be realistic and acceptable as a starting point."
Turning to Rep. Yong, Kim said, "There was criticism, but on the other hand we also came to see the reality of how weak these progressive forces are." He stressed, "We should not just criticize this problem. We have to solve it."
On electoral reform and the introduction of a runoff system, Kim said, "We need to discuss which is more reasonable, the current single-member district system or the quasi-mixed-member proportional representation system, but in the case of a runoff system, presidential elections are basic."
As a method for unifying candidacies, Kim proposed "competitiveness-based unification," which would reflect each party's relative strength. "If parties merge, then within a single party, nominations simply go to whoever gets the most votes in the primary," he said. "If different parties unify a candidacy, it goes to whoever will draw the most votes, the one who ranks first in opinion polls."
On the four measures, he added, "I met with each party in turn and won a certain degree of agreement," and said, "I intend to raise the discussion in earnest."
Separately, Kim explained his recent remark that "this week is the last line of defense against the decline in approval ratings," saying, "It does not mean that the defense line must not be breached. It means let us use this week as an occasion to firm up the bottom and begin a rebound, even a slight one." Responding to criticism that the party has too many task forces, he said, "After the Chuseok holiday, I will make public the work reports from the party secretariat, the special committees and task forces, the city and provincial chapters, and the research institute."
