Korea – legislative 8 aprile 2008

REPUBLIC OF KOREA
LEGISLATIVE ELECTION OF 9 APRIL 2008
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Elections to the Kuk Hoe (National Assembly)
Source: Chosun Ilbo newspaper website

The National Assembly consists of 245 members elected from single-seat
constituencies and 54 members elected by proportional representation. 

NATIONAL SUMMARY OF VOTES AND SEATS
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These figures are the votes cast for the members elected by proportional
representation. They are unofficial and may not be final.
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Registered voters:         37,796,035
Votes cast:                17,389,206  46.0
Invalid votes                 205,497  01.2
Valid votes                17,183,709  98.8
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Party                      Votes       %            Seats 1  Seats 2   Total
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Creative Korea Party          651,980  03.8            1        2         3
Democratic Labour Party       973,394  05.6  -07.4     2        3         5   -05
Grand National Party        6,421,654  37.4  +01.6   131       22       153   +32
Liberty Forward Party       1,173,452  06.8           14        4        18
Park Geun-hye Coalition     2,258,726  13.1            6        8        14
United Democratic Party     4,313,111  25.1  -20.3    66       15        81   -80
Independents                1,391,392  08.1           25        -        25
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Total                      17,183,709                245       54       299
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Seats 1 = the single-seat constituencies.
Seats 2 = the seats filled by proportional representation

In 2004 the Our Open Party polled 38.3 and the Millenium Democratic Party polled
7.1, a total of 45.4%, and won 161 seats between them. The United Democratic Party
is a merger of these parties, and its votes and seats are compared with their
combined totals in 2004.

The Park Geun-hye Coalition is a breakaway from the Grand National Party, led by
former chairwoman Park Geun-hye.

The Electoral System of the Sixth Republic

Any Korean citizen over 20 who is registered in the electoral roll by the local

government is entitled to vote. Suffrage is universal, equal, direct and secret.

Elections are held for the president of the Republic of Korea and the National

Assembly.9 Since the early 1990s, elections have also been held at local and

provincial levels. The regular term of office for the president is five years without

re-election and four years for the National Assembly (no term limits). In order to

be eligible for the presidency citizens must be at least 40 years old, have resided

in the country for at least five years and qualify as eligible members of the

National Assembly. They may run as party candidates or as independents. An

independent candidate needs the support of 2,500-5,000 electors, among whom

not more than 500 may live in the same city or province. A public official who

wants to register as a candidate must resign from his/her post 90 days before

the date of the elections.

In parliamentary elections, candidates may be recommended either by a political

party or by electors (independent candidates). Independent candidates need

the recommendation of 300-500 electors. Candidates in the national constituency

can only run as party candidates on a party’s list. Candidates who apply for 
registration have to pay a deposit of 10 million Won (approximately US$8,300

in 2001). The money is returned if the candidate receives at least half of the

quota obtained from dividing the total number of valid votes by the number of

candidates (local constituency), or if at least one of the candidates on the list

concerned is elected (national constituency).

The electoral system used in presidential elections is a first-past-the-post system

(Korea Legislation Research Institute, 1998: Article 187). In legislative elections

a segmented system is used. The electoral system applied in 1988 and in 1992

was similar to the systems used in 1985: three quarters of the seats were elected

by plurality in SMCs, while one quarter was allocated proportionally in one

national constituency. If one party wins at least half of the popularly elected

seats, it is automatically entitled to two thirds of the seats on the national list; if

it gains less, the strongest party is still awarded half of the national list seats. In

the Fifteenth National Assembly election (1996), 253 seats were elected in SMCs.

The remaining 46 seats (15 per cent) were allocated proportionally to the parties

that had obtained at least 5 per cent of the total valid votes/seats in SMCs,

while the special seat bonus for the largest party was abolished (Korea

Legislation Research Institute, 1998: Article 189).

In the Sixteenth National Assembly elections in April 2000, the total number of

seats was reduced to 273. While 227 seats were distributed via plurality in

SMCs, 46 seats were allocated through proportional representation to closed

and blocked party lists in one national constituency. The proportional seats

are distributed among the parties which have obtained either a minimum of

five seats in the SMCs plurality contests or 5 per cent of the total national valid

vote in the 227 SMCs. Finally, there is a different threshold for those parties that

receive between 3 and 5 per cent of the national valid vote (Korea Legislation

Research Institute, 1998: Article 189). Each of these parties is granted one seat

before the allocation of the remaining proportional seats begins according to

the Hare quota formula and the method of the largest remainder. Candidates in

SMCs can be nominated by political parties or the candidates themselves, i.e.

independent candidates without any official party affiliation are allowed to

participate in the SMC plurality contests. In fact, independent candidatures

are frequent and also quite successful. Table 4 provides a summary report of

the electoral system used in legislative elections in terms of its key attributes.

While some minor changes concerning assembly size, district magnitude and

number of districts were made, the fundamentals have remained unchanged

since 1988.