South Korean Politics and Elections

(News Focus) Proportional representative system under fire over 'fishy' candidates

Yonhap, April 16, 2008

By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, April 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's party-list proportional representation system has come under fire from voters, following allegations that the system has become a money spinner for parties who "sell" the 54 proportional slots in the country's legislature to the highest bidder.

   Most South Koreans that cast an extra ballot for the party of their choice in last week's parliamentary election had only a vague idea of whom the ballot would benefit, with the short campaign period leaving voters little time to scrutinize candidates listed in party rosters.

   Many were dumbfounded by the "fishy" personalities selected by the parties only after the vote.

   "When I cast a ballot for a party, I trusted it to have nominated competitive representatives, not some rich candidates who could just buy seats," said 67-year-old citizen Ham Sang-sup.

   Under South Korea's parliamentary elections system, each voter casts two ballots -- one for their candidate of choice and another for their favorite party. Six parties that secured over 3 percent of the vote in April 9 elections were thereby allocated extra seats in the 299-member National Assembly.

   Yet the conduct of parties regarding the proportional representation system -- introduced in 2004 with the aim of encouraging candidates with diverse backgrounds to stand -- has raised concerns over the flip side of the system.

   "Proportional representation has contributed to the increased number of parties, which is good for balance in the legislature," said political analyst Im Myung-jin. "But serious consideration appears necessary as the system is becoming the main method for parties to rake up donations."

The country's election law prohibits any monetary contribution in exchange for candidacy. If one violates the law, he or she can be sentenced to a maximum of five years in jail and fined up to 10 million won (US$10,000).

   But because party members are free to make special contributions to their parties, this prohibition has little effect.

   Quite openly, the main opposition party collected 10 to 100 million won from those who were elected on the proportional ticket. Minority parties are alleged to have received much larger contributions in exchange for a high ranking on the proportional candidacy list.

   The youngest lawmaker-elect of a minority conservative party formed by former ruling party lawmakers is at the center of the growing controversy, for allegedly both "paying her way" into the legislature and apparently exaggerating her qualifications.

   Yang Jeong-rye, 30, who got the No. 1 proportional seat of a group of former Grand National Party (GNP) leader Park Geun-hye supporters, is currently under investigation by prosecutors for allegedly paying 101 million won to the group.

   The GNP splinter group, consisting of lawmakers who bolted from the party after failing to win nominations, ranked third in the elections with 13 percent of the vote, earning a total of eight proportional seats.

   Yang has admitted to paying a "special membership fee", which is not illegal, while refusing to unveil the specific amount. She is suspected of paying a much larger sum than the group claims.

   Yang is also under fire for allegedly lying about her political career. While she claims to have been an organizer of a fan club of Park Geun-hye, the club says there is no such position.

   Political sources suspect that her nomination may have stemmed from the close ties between Yang's mother, who runs a construction company, and Suh Chung-won, the pro-Park group's leader.

   Prosecutors are also investigating Jeong Kuk-kyo, the No. 6 proportional lawmaker from the main opposition United Democratic Party, for paying the party 100 million won and an additional billion won last month, although the latter sum was returned to him later.

   The main opposition party grabbed 15 proportional seats, while the ruling GNP secured 22.

   Political pundits say one of the major problems is that the lists of proportional candidates are disclosed only after nominations for districts have been fixed, leaving little time for voters to scrutinize the qualifications of the women and men alternately listed by each party.

   Thus, new measures are needed to oblige parties to disclose the list of their proportional candidates months ahead of the elections after sufficient screening, they say.

   "The list of proportional candidates should be made public ahead of the nomination procedures for district candidates, so that voters can get to know about the political orientation of individual parties, and have a decent sense of who is on their list," said political analyst Yoon Jin-sik.

   Prof. Kang Won-taek of Soongsil University agreed.

   "The final list of proportional candidates was announced just before the deadline for the party candidate registration, when much more time is necessary for sufficient scrutiny," he said. "The system is necessary to supplement the country's legislature with diverse people, with expertise in a variety of social sectors and to protect the minority parties, but clear principles and standards are critical in achieving such goals."

Myongji University professor Yoon Jong-bin said that laws should be revised to prevent the party leadership from being influenced by personal relations, adding that the list of proportional candidates should be disclosed at least three months ahead of elections.

"And it would also be wise to think of a way to allow voters to express their preference for each proportional candidate ahead of the vote,' he added.

   hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)

The 2008 National Assembly race by the numbers

정당 지역구 비례대표 총의석 한나라당 131 22 153 통합민주당 66 15 81 민주노동당 2 3 5 자유선진당 14 4 18 친박연대 6 8 14 창조한국당 1 2 3 진보신당 0 0 0 무소속 25 0 25 계 245 54 299

The parties on that list are (top to bottom) Grand National Party, United Democratic Party, Democratic Labor Party, Libery Forward Party, Pro Park Geun-hey Alliance, Creative Korea Party, New Porgressive Party, independents

It would certainly be a pleasant surprise if this graphic shows up properly in the post.  It is from the Chosun Ilbo.

While I am dreaming, let me post a cut-n-paste copy of the regional breakdown.   

구분	통합민주당	한나라당	민주노동당	자유선진당	친박연대	창조한국당	진보신당	무소속

합계	245	66	131	2	14	6	1	0	25

서울	48	7	40	0	0	0	1	0	0
부산	18	1	11	0	0	1	0	0	5
대구	12	0	8	0	0	3	0	0	1
인천	12	2	9	0	0	0	0	0	1
광주	8	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
대전	6	1	0	0	5	0	0	0	0
울산	6	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	1
경기	51	17	32	0	0	1	0	0	1
강원	8	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	3
충북	8	6	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
충남	10	1	0	0	8	0	0	0	1
전북	11	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
전남	12	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
경북	15	0	9	0	0	1	0	0	5
경남	17	1	13	2	0	0	0	0	1
제주	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

UPDATE:  Part of that chart was cut off.  Here is the missing information: 

• Creative Korea Party: 1 seat in Seoul
• Indepdents:  25 seats, 5 in Busan, 1 in Daegu, 1 in Incheon, 1 in Gwangju, 1 in Ulsan, 1 in Gyeonggi-do, 3 in Gangwon-do, 1 in Chugncheongnam-do, 2 in Jeollabuk-do, 3 in Jeollanam-do, 5 in Gyeongsangbuk-do, 1 in Gyeongsangnam-do

Here is a graphic of the PR results, which should be fine.  The second column in the chart at the top of the page shows how many PR seats each party gained.

Chosun's 2008 NA results page

This data from the Chosun Daily will be useful for some research I am working on.

GNP looking strong in tomorrow’s Assembly elections

JoongAng Daily, April 8, 2008

With the National Assembly elections tomorrow, candidates and their supporters were making frantic efforts to win voters yesterday. For one candidate’s wife, that meant singing to a group of drunken men hooting at her at a pub.

Although the outlook for the Grand National Party is generally bright — with experts predicting the party will capture at least 160 seats — others say the results of as many as 60 races are too close to call, especially because general voter turnout is expected to be low this time.

Candidates are competing in 245 National Assembly districts. The other 54 seats will be chosen proportionally based on how many votes each party receives.

In Jongno, Seoul, where Park Jin of the Grand National Party and Sohn Hak-kyu, a former chairman of the United Democratic Party, were battling for votes, their wives set out to the streets.

Jo Yoon-hui, 52, introducing herself as the “significant other half” of Park Jin, bowed deeply every time she saw a passerby. The violinist, who studied at Korea’s top university, Seoul National, stayed out until 2 a.m. in sneakers to help her husband.

At a pub in Gugi-dong, she was greeted by a group of drunken men insisting they would only vote for Park if she sang to them. She hesitated, then sang Park’s campaign song.

Lee Yun-yeong, 62, Sohn’s wife, also walked around in comfortable shoes yesterday, buying food from street vendors and sharing instant coffee with merchants.

She visited a local bathhouse where her aides stopped her from entering the locker room, saying the customers there might feel uncomfortable.

Critics expect the fight in the Gyeonggi and Seoul areas to be a showdown between the Grand National Party and the United Democratic Party, or the GNP and the independents.

“As the election day nears, the GNP is clearly in the lead in many polls,” said Ahn Boo-keun, head of The Opinion, a polling company.

The UDP is, however, leading in many areas, including the Jeolla provinces, where liberals are usually strong. Of the 31 districts in the region, the UDP said it was certain to win in 26 districts.

Other minor parties, including Pro-Park United, the Liberal Forward Party and the Democratic Labor Party, focused on the regions where they are traditionally strong.

The Pro-Park party continued to emphasize that it represents Park Geun-hye, former chairwoman of the GNP, as a counterbalance to President Lee Myung-bak of the GNP.

By Namkoong Wook, Sun Seung-hye JoongAng Ilbo [mina@joongang.co.kr]

New post dating method

I have decided to change how I date the posts, with the post date being the date that the article in question was published in the original publication rather than the date I but it on the blog.  I retrofitted the new method on posts from the last six weeks of the presidential election.

I hope to get posts on the national Assembly elections caught up by Wednesday afternoon.  The plan is to then go back and get a few articles on the presidential transition and a few other articles of interest.  If all goes well, I will be completely caught up by April 20 and I and settle into a comfortable 5-10 posts per week.

Of course, I remember writing something similar a few times before.

More voters than usual undecided this year

JoongAng Daily, April 4, 2008

Five days before the National Assembly elections, the race is on to capture undecided voters. Experts say their numbers are higher than usual this year.

“Although it is hard to calculate, we feel that the number of undecided voters has increased since the last election,” said Kim Ji-yeon, a senior executive at MillwardBrown Media Research. “It is hard to say, however, whether the trend will be good or bad for certain parties because lots of them will decide not to cast ballots at all.”

According to political experts, undecided voters are believed to make up about 30 percent of all eligible voters across the country.

In a survey conducted by Gallup Korea on March 29, the number of undecided voters reached 41.2 percent of all surveyed voters.

According to a Feb. 20 JoongAng Ilbo poll, 19.5 percent of eligible voters said they had not decided which party they would vote for in Wednesday’s elections.

In a poll on March 26, however, that figure climbed to 27.3 percent. That might not be a good sign for the Grand National Party, which has seen its approval rate drop from 54.3 percent to 43.6 percent. Still, the approval rate of their chief rivals, the United Democratic Party, stayed the same, according to the polls.

The results show that some of the voters who voted for President Lee Myung-bak during the presidential election have stopped supporting his party, but haven’t jumped over to the liberal parties.
Political experts say the fact that the number of undecided voters has increased since the beginning of the election campaign indicates people are losing interest.

Lee Taek-soo, president of the survey firm RealMeter, predicted people will lean toward the two new conservative parties.

“It is likely that many undecided voters will vote for the Liberty Forward Party or the Pro-Park [Geun-hye] United group,” he said.

Lee Jong-koo, a GNP lawmaker, said, “We will keep letting undecided voters know that in order for the new Lee Myung-bak administration to be able to work consistently for the nation, they have to give a majority of the National Assembly seats to the Grand National Party.”

Park Sun-suk, a UDP legislative candidate and director general of the party’s election strategy planning team, said, “To win in the fiercely competitive electoral districts in Seoul and the capital region, we need to attract undecided voters.”

Meanwhile, in this year’s elections, online users have been relatively quiet. In the 2004 legislative elections, online users formed numerous communities to protest against GNP’s attempt to impeach President Roh.

Although the ruling and opposition parties have each spent more than 800 million won ($820,000) on online campaigns this year, exceeding the money spent for print advertisements, the number of visits to party Web sites by voters has plummeted since the last legislative elections.

According to Rankey.com, which provides rankings of Web sites based on hits, the number of visitors to the GNP Web site dropped from 340,000 in March 2004 to 60,000 last month. Hits on the UDP’s Web site shrank by 19 times during the same period.

By Kim Jung-ha JoongAng Ilbo/ Kim Soe-jung Staff Reporter [soejung@joongang.co.kr]

Parties in Fierce Battles Outside of Strongholds

Donga Iblo, April 3, 2007

In the 17th general elections, the Grand National Party had a mere 0.4 percent of votes in the Jeolla provinces.

Although the party has candidates in all 31 districts of the Jeolla region, as of now, not one of their candidates is likely to be elected there. Though recent polls show one of their candidates in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, ranking second, support still lags far behind the leading candidate.

The conservative ruling party got one candidate elected in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province in the 15th general elections in 1996 when the party was then called the New Korea Party. Since then, however, the party has failed to elect a single candidate in the Jeolla provinces.

The focus of much attention is whether the GNP will be able to record double-digit approval ratings in the region. In the previous 17th general elections, the party’s support was 0.4 percent. Most recently, the party’s then-presidential candidate, President Lee Myung-bak, received 8.9 percent of the region’s votes.

The United Democratic Party is in a neck-and-neck race in two constituencies in the Yeongnam region (Gyeongsang provinces).

If the UDP can elect two candidates in the southeastern part of Korea, this will be a big victory for a party that has recently seen defeats. The party’s presidential candidate lost in last year’s presidential election, and the party is expected to come short of its target of 100 seats in the upcoming general elections.

Recent surveys show two UDP candidates in a close contest in Saha-eul, Busan and Gimhae-eul, South Gyeongsang Province, former President Roh Moo-hyun’s hometown. Meanwhile, three to four are running in second place in recent polls, though none of them are within range of winning.

The UDP’s predecessor, the Uri Party, won four seats in the region in the 17th general elections, following a backlash to the attempted impeachment of President Roh.

The Liberty Forward Party wants to change its image as a regional party.

The LFP is doing its utmost to get a seat outside the Chungcheong provinces, as it is criticized for being a one-region party. Although the leaders of the party, including party head, Lee Hoi-chang, are looking for opportunities elsewhere, the best the party is doing now is in Daegu and Gangwon, where two of their candidates are in second place.

The Pro-Park Alliance is fighting desperately outside Yeongnam where Park Geun-hye’s influence is not as strong. According to recent polls, its candidates are in close contests in Yeoju-Icheon and Ansan Sangnok-eul, Gyeonggi Province. The chairman of the party, Seo Cheong-won, listed as the No. 2 proportional representation candidate of the party, said, “Our party will make Park Geun-hye the country’s next president in five years.”

Will many independent candidates be elected?

In the 14th general elections, 21 independents were elected. Since then, their numbers have declined to 16 seats in the 15th, five in the 16th and two in the 17th. Experts say, as the country’s party system stabilizes, the number of independents usually declines under a single-seat electoral system.

However, recent public opinion polls show independents leading in roughly 17 constituencies, while 10 candidates are within the margin of error behind leading candidates. Many of them who failed to receive nominations from their former parties are running in the Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces.

It is too early to say whether elected independents will help overcome regionalism in Korea, as they are likely to return to their former party, once elected.

Frm. Pres. Roh’s Regional Dev`t Policy Receives Failing Mark

Donga Ilbo, April 2, 2008

More than half of local government heads flunked former President Roh Moo-hyun’s drive for so-called “balanced national development” policy. 53.7 percent of those surveyed said their locality received no contribution from his policy, while 26.6 percent said they did.

The findings were published in a recent survey by the Dong-A Ilbo and the Korea Research Institute for Local Administration to commemorate the Dong-A Ilbo’s 88th anniversary. Out of a total 230 localities (Jeju Province excluded), government heads from 214 localities participated.

The survey found that 77 percent of local governments in the Seoul metropolitan area did not acknowledge any positive effects from Roh’s policy. Regarding the new administration’s policy for a “creative metropolitan development” plan, 33.3 percent of respondents stressed the need for more active cooperation among localities to iron out conflicts of interest between them. 21.1 percent pointed out the need to organize a body to coordinate varying views.

To induce balanced nationwide development, local administrators pointed out the need to develop local potentials and enhance competitiveness (39.4%), to encourage strategic industries, tailored by region (28.2%) and to entice corporate investment (20.7%).

A vast majority of them (78%) advocated the abolishment of the party nomination system in local elections. In particular, 100 percent of officials with three or more terms in office opposed the system more than officials in their first or second terms (68.1% and 91.8%, respectively).

40.2 percent of them said that the central government’s help was meager, while 8.9 percent said it was miniscule.

Similarly, 8.5 percent of localities in the seven major metropolitan regions were satisfied with the central government’s support, while 63.3 percent were not. Among rural governments, however, 31.5 percent showed some satisfaction but 28.7 percent expressed dissatisfaction.

70.1 percent of those surveyed gave positive marks (or more than 70 points) to the level of grass-roots democracy in Korea. Only 4.2 percent of them, however, replied that their local government could survive financially without any help from the central government.

Latest polls show GNP with big lead

JoongAng Daily, April 2, 2008

With the National Assembly elections a week away, the conservatives are poised to grab a big majority of the seats, several recent surveys showed yesterday.

The liberals, by contrast, are not likely to win even 100 seats, the number needed to block attempts to revise the Constitution, the surveys showed.

Voters next Wednesday will choose 245 of the 299 seats in the legislature. The rest will be decided based on the proportions each party wins. On April 9, voters will cast two ballots - one for a lawmaker and another for a party.

The conservative Grand National Party candidates were winning 145 districts, while the liberal United Democratic Party candidates were favored in 71, according to the analysis. The survey is based on a joint poll by the JoongAng Ilbo and YTN, conducted from Saturday through Monday, and another poll by Media Research and Korea Research. A JoongAng Ilbo poll conducted in late March and surveys by political parties were also factored in.

Grand National candidates held wide leads in 118 districts and a small lead in another 27 districts. If the party wins those races, and another 30 seats from proportional representation, President Lee Myung-bak’s party will capture a majority.

In contrast, the United Democratic Party is in a clear lead in 48 districts and in a close race in 23 districts. Even if the party manages to win 15 proportional seats, the UDP would only hold 90 in the legislature.

The analysis showed the Grand Nationals were leading in 79 percent of the districts in the capital region. In 2004, by contrast, the party won only 29 percent of those seats.

Independent candidates are leading in 15 districts, including seven in Gyeongsang and two in the capital region. The Liberty Forward Party led nine districts, mostly in the Chungcheong region, while the minority parties led in five districts.


By Shin Chang-un JoongAng Ilbo [myoja@joongang.co.kr]

Parties in Cutthroat Race in 60 Districts

Donga Iblo, April 1, 2008

With only nine days until the 18th general elections, recent polls showed that the Grand National Party is leading in 110 electoral districts out of 245 as of March 31. The United Democratic Party is leading in around 50 precincts, the Liberty Forward Party in 10, the Pro-Park Alliance and the alliance of independent candidates supporting Park Geun-hye, a former head of GNP, in five. The competition is fierce in some 60 districts.

The figures are the results of recent surveys conducted by media organizations including the Dong-A Ilbo and each party’s own analysis of the upcoming elections.

If the current trend continues to the voting day, the ruling GNP will hold a majority in the National Assembly. If the GNP wins in 25 districts where competition is fierce, the party is expected to have more than 160 seats including an estimated 25 seats in proportional representation.

With this scenario in mind, the UDP is put on alert to secure 100 seats, a minimum number of lawmakers required to prevent a constitutional revision by the ruling party.

Parties are crying wolf to woo voters. GNP Secretary General Lee Bang-ho said, “Although the approval rating for our party is over 50 percent, the supporting rates for our candidates are around 30 percent.” UDP Co-chairman Sohn Hak-kyu also said, “We may have a shocking result of 50 to 60 seats.”

How well the LFP will do in Chungcheong provinces, the Pro-Park Alliance in Gyeongsang provinces and independent candidates in the Jeolla provinces are the biggest variables in this general election.

○ Seoul Metropolitan Area (111 seats)

The Seoul Metropolitan Area holds 45 percent of the all seats (245), and it determines a success or failure of the coming elections as no party has an absolute influence on this region. The ruling party was earlier expected to win an overwhelming victory. However, competition began to be fierce in many districts as the approval ratings for President Lee Myung-bak have recently faltered.

In Seoul, the ruling party is leading in 20 constituencies, the UDP in four and the Creative Korea Party in one district. Competition is intense in around 20 districts.

In Incheon, which has 12 seats, the GNP is leading in about five to six districts, the UNP in three to four and other three to four places are caught in cutthroat competitions.

In Gyeonggi Province (51 seats), the ruling party is ahead in 20, the UDP in 10 and candidates are running a neck-and-neck race in 10 constituencies.

○ Chungcheong Provinces (24 seats)

As the approval ratings of political parties and those of candidates do not coincide in many of the Chungcheong constituencies, it is difficult to project the outcome of the elections in this region. The GNP candidates are ahead in five districts, the UDP in three to four, the LFP in eight to nine, and competition is fierce in seven to eight districts. The LFP should obtain at least 15 seats in this region to form a floor negotiation group, but it seems to be a challenging goal.

○ Gyeongsang (68 seats) & Jeolla Provinces (31 seats)

Although the outcome of the elections for pro-Park candidates who failed in party nominations depends on how effective their “Park Geun-hye marketing” works, the ruling party candidates are ahead in around 60 constituencies in Gyeongsang provinces.

In Jeolla provinces, while the UDP is leading in 25 districts, many independent candidates are competing against UDP candidates. The results of independent candidates, Kim Hong-eop (Muan-Shinan) and Park Jie-won (Mokpo), are drawing attention.

○ Gangwon (8 seats) & Jeju (3 seats)

While GNP candidates are strong overall, the UDP is leading in two constituencies, and competition is fierce in other two districts. Meanwhile, it is difficult to forecast a result of Jeju, as competition is intense in every district.