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Politics in Korea - Main Page
Korea's Main Page
Political Parties and the National Election Commission in Korea
Political Parties
The National Election Commission
Historically political parties were born and developed in conjunction with the democratization and diversification of society. They are an essential ingredient of the modern democratic political system. Performances of political parties in a given country is an important yardstick of measuring the vitality of a democracy. The Constitution of the Republic of Korea, in Article 8, defines the important role and function political parties play in the Republic: "Political parties may be organized freely and multiple parties shall be allowed. The objectives, organization and activities of a political party shall be democratic. Political parties shall have an organization conducive to participating in the process of forming the people's political opinions."
The Constitution also declares that "political parties shall be protected by the government according to the provisions of relevant laws." The most important law enacted by the Constitutional mandate is the Political Party Law. Directly quoting the definition of a political party from the Constitution, the law states that by virtue of being protected in its activities and organizational process, the political parties shall contribute to the development of sound democratic politics. This provision stresses freedom of political activities.
The law further says that a political party is an entity organized by the spontaneous action of the people with a purpose to allow people's political opinions to be expressed. According to the law, the political parties may achieve their objectives by presenting responsible opinions and policies and by supporting certain candidates in public elections for the benefit of the people. Thus, a political party is a private organization that deals with matters of public interest. The law also elaborates on the rules for establishing and maintaining the political parties and requirements for democratic organization and operation. As of August 1998, there were 10 political parties active in Korea. Only four of them had seats in the National Assembly-the Grand National Party (GNP), the National Congress for New Politics (NCNP), the United Liberal Democrats (ULD), and the New Party by the People (NPP).
Activities of Political Parties
Modern political parties based on democratic principles were first introduced to Korea only after it was liberated from the Japanese colonial government in 1945. Initially, the political parties were nothing but groups of small number of relatives, acquaintances, schoolmates and townsfolk. The Liberal Party, founded in 1951, was the first to establish a nationwide organization. The Democratic Party, the Democratic Republican Party (DRP) and the New Democratic Party (NDP) appeared later, and like the Liberal Party, it also organized local branches around the country.
Korean political parties opposing the government parties were subject to constant persecution by successive military governments which first came into power during the coup d'etat of 1961, led by General Park Chung Hee. For this reason, party politics existed only in name. Typical of the government's abuse was the dissolution of political parties by Park Chung Hee in 1961 and the banning of political activities imposed on party members by the Gen. Chun Doo Hwan Administration in 1980.
Korean political parties have largely been organized around a particular leader instead of a party platform or policies. Since each party is operating around a political boss, political parties were not able to represent all sectors of the society despite their claims to the contrary.
The 1987 Constitutional amendment was a milestone in the history of Korean democracy in that it reinstated the principle of direct, popular election of the President for the first time in 20 years. Inspired by the long-sought Constitutional amendment, many politically minded people created political parties under a truly democratic system. Buoyed by the democratic process of the 1987 election, people seemed to believe that democracy was here to stay.
In October 1987, Roh Tae Woo of the Democratic Justice Party (DJP) was elected President by gathering 36.6 percent of the votes. His election was attributed to the fact that the opposition camp failed to put up a single candidate in a unified fashion. Other candidates in the election were Kim Young Sam of the Unified Democratic Party (UDP), Kim Dae-jung of the Democratic Party for Peace, Kim Jong-pil of the New Democratic Republican Party (NDRP), and others from splinter parties. The Korean people who had just recovered their political freedom foresaw the possibility of a genuine change of governmental power looming in the not-too-distant future.
In the 13th-term National Assembly elections that were held in April 1988, the ruling DJP managed to win only 125 of the 299 seats. The remaining 71 went to the opposition Democratic Party for Peace, 60 to the UDP, 35 to the NDRP, and eight to independents. For the first time in the history of the Republic, a government party failed to obtain a majority of seats in the Legislature.
Because of the minority status in the National Assembly, the government had a hard time in pushing its agenda. But the government's difficulties did not last long as the governing DJP merged with the opposition parties UDP and NDRP in January 1990. The giant coalition, comprising two-thirds of the total membership, called itself the Democratic Liberal Party (DLP). Some UDP lawmakers protested the merger and formed the Democratic Party (DP).
In 1991, politicians were moving fast in preparation of the 14th-term National Assembly elections scheduled for January the next year. Faced with the prospect of a showdown with the ruling coalition, the opposition New Democratic Alliance Party headed by Kim Dae-jung merged with the Democratic Party led by Lee Ki-taek. They actively sought the support of various civic groups.
However, the opposition was dealt a devastating defeat by the ruling coalition in the local autonomy-unit elections held in March and June 1995. This was the first time such local elections were held since 1961 when they were abolished by Park Chung Hee.
In early 1992, Chung Ju-yung, founder of the Hyundai conglomerate and his allies, created the Unified People's Party (UPP), a middle-of-the-road reform party. The UPP lost in the December presidential election, but won 31 seats in the National Assembly election in March of the same year, a decent performance for a party only a few months old. In the 14th-term parliamentary elections, the ruling coalition of DLP ended up winning one seat short from a simple majority. This was a substantial setback for the government party which had boasted a two-thirds majority. The major opposition Democratic Party won in 97 districts. In the December election, Kim Young Sam was elected President by winning 42 percent of the votes.
In May 1995, the United Liberal Democrats (ULD) was organized by Kim Jong-pil who had broken away from the DLP. In the local autonomy elections in June of the same year, the ruling DLP suffered a major defeat. Of the 15 provincial and metropolitan gubernatorial elections, the government party wound up winning only five seats. The opposition took eight and the remaining two went to independents. In the shi, gun and gu district elections held in 230 electoral districts, the government party won only 70 seats, compared with the opposition's 107 seats. Independent candidates took 53 seats. In this election, each of the major parties won in only certain regions, deepening worries about provincialism.
In the 15th-term National Assembly elections of 1996, the NCNP's hopes were shattered when it ended up getting only 79 of the 299 seats. The NCNP had hoped to win a majority based on the excellent performance of the opposition camp in the local elections held just months before, even though it had to break away from the Democratic Party prior to the elections. The ruling New Korea Party (NKP) won 139 seats, the ULD took 50, the Democrats got 15, and the remaining 16 seats went to independents. What worried the opposition camp particularly was that they failed to take a majority of the Seoul and KyConggi-do seats for the first time in the history of parliamentary elections. The ruling NKP took 54 of the 95 Seoul and KyConggi-do seats.
The NCNP was concerned about the results of the election because it had mobilized all its resources to win in the central metropolitan region in preparation for the 1997 presidential election.
As for the ideological variance for Korean political parties, few were progressive or socialist in ideological orientation. The Progressive Party of the 1950s was probably the only one that advocated radical social change based on socialist ideas about class struggle. It was subsequently repressed by the government in power. With the expansion of political freedoms during the 1980's, the People's Party and the Party of the People was established in 1988 and 1990, respectively, but folded soon thereafter due to the lack of support from the general public. In November 1997, the Constructive People's Victory 21 was created, but fizzled out after dismal performances in the 1997 presidential and 1998 local elections.
The year 1997 saw another milestone in the Korean party politics as there was a genuine transfer of power between a ruling and an opposition party for the first time in the 50 year existence of the Republic. In the national election, Kim Dae-jung of the opposition NCNP was elected President by winning 40.3 percent of the votes, 1.6 percent over the ruling GNP's Lee Hoe-chang. President Kim was inaugurated on February 25, 1998.
Political Party Finance
Organizing and financing a political party requires a great deal of money. To help secure the "Cost of Democracy," the Law Governing Political Funds stipulates that a political party may collect money by means of membership fees, support committee contributions and other subsidies.
At the end of the 1997, the GNP held the majority of National Assembly seats, with 4,198,699 party members. The governing coalition of NCNP and ULD had 845,276 and 1,601,727 members, respectively. The New Party by the People had 108,573 members. All the parties collect membership dues as well as contributions from corporations, associations and individuals. But those amounts fall far short of meeting their overall financial needs.
The huge gaps in the financial structure forced many political parties and big businesses to make illegal deals that ultimately corrupt politics and jeopardize the economy of the whole nation. This vicious cycle of political-business collusion has been a major problem in Korea.
In order to rectify the problem, Article 8 of the Constitution states that "the State may offer subsidies necessary for the operation of political parties in accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws." The subsidies are only given to the parties which meet certain legal requirements.
The amount of subsidies are calculated by multiplying 800 Won by the number of votes the political parties received in the most recent national election. The subsidies add up after each presidential, National Assembly and local elections.
There are two types of subsidies-basic and proportional. The basic subsidies are 50 percent of the total amount, and they are offered to those parties with a negotiation group of 20 or more members in the National Assembly. Those parties with 5-19 members get five percent of the total amount each. Those parties that have less than five Assembly seats, but have received a certain rate of votes in the nationwide local autonomy unit elections, may get two percent of the total amount.
The remainder of the subsidies go to the parties with parliamentary seats proportionate to the number of their seats. The balance, if any, goes to the parties proportionate to the number of votes each has received in the most recent Assembly elections.
Political parties and lawmakers may have a "support committee" that are able to monetary contributions. To operate the support committee, the legislator, the party central committee, provincial, city, or local election districts must register with the National Election Commission.
Individuals and corporations can join these support committees on their own free will, and contribute their own money or the money collected from non-committee members to the parties and candidates of their choice. There is a upper limit to the amount of contribution a support committee can receive a year. In a non-election year, the party central committee can collect a maximum of 20 billion Won, a metropolitan city or provincial committee can take 2 billion Won, and the electoral district, or a National Assembly candidate, can receive up to 300 million Won per year. During a presidential year or other election year, most support committees may receive up to twice the amount of a non-election year's maximum.
Organization
The National Election Commission (NEC) is an independent council established for fair management of elections and national referenda as well as political party-related affairs. It is a four-level setup composed of 17 central, provincial and metropolitan city offices, 302 city wards or gu, shi and gun offices, and 16,161 voting stations. The term of the commissioner is six years; the commissioner must not join a political party nor participate in political activities. He or she must not be dismissed from the position unless he/she is impeached, or sentenced to prison, or has been subject to other more serious punishments by a court of law.
The commission may conduct its meetings with half or more of its members enrolled and make decisions with the consent of half or more of the members present. The president of the Commission has the right to vote, and has the right to break a tie vote.
The commission is composed of nine members; three of them are appointed by the President of the Republic, three by the National Assembly, and the remaining three, by the Chief Justice. The members elect a chairperson and one standing member. It is customary for the members to elect a Justice of the Supreme Court as a chairman of the commission.
Duties
The commission manages national and local elections mandated by the Constitution and the Election Rigging Prevention Law as well as other elections entrusted by public entities. They include the following:
- Presidential elections
- National Assembly elections
- Elections of local autonomous district heads (such as metropolitan city mayors, province governors, shi mayors, gu commissioners and gun commissioners.)
- Elections of local autonomous district councils (such as councils of metropolitan cities, provinces, shis, gus and guns.)
- Elections entrusted by public entities.
- Researches on election systems
The commission manages referenda regarding constitutional revision and other important initiatives on international relations, defense, national reunification and other national security issues.
The commission also manages matters regarding the establishment of political parties and their activities, as well as the management of public political funds.
The commission conducts public relations campaign all year round, to firmly establish a tradition of fair elections. In addition to managing constitutionally mandated affairs, the commission holds public events and visits various organizations and schools to give speeches on the importance of elections. It also educates new voters and supports fair election activities sponsored by social and religious groups.
To ensure truly fair elections, the commission focuses its effort not only on the enforcement of fair voting and ballot counting, but also on making sure that election campaigns are carried out lawfully. The commission actively seeks to prevent illegal campaign practices by political parties and candidates. If illegality is suspected, it takes due and prompt investigatory action.
The Election Management Institute of the commission regularly trains its employees at all levels, including civil servants and other elections management and political party workers, on the subject of election procedures, political parties as well as the management and distribution of political funds.
The commission initiates legislation and revision of laws concerning elections, referenda and political parties through the National Assembly when it deems necessary.
Information provided by the Korean Embassy