Can satellite parties exploit loopholes in the 2024 general election in South Korea?

The upcoming 2024 general election in South Korea will be the second one held under the new semi-proportional representation system. While this system aimed to bring diverse voices into the National Assembly, critics argue that the previous 2020 election saw major parties exploiting loopholes by creating “satellite parties” to gain more proportional representation seats.

Background on Satellite Parties

In the previous 2020 general election, both the conservative and liberal major parties created satellite parties to circumvent the proportional representation rules. For example, the Democratic Party established the Citizen Party, while the People Power Party launched the Future Korea Party. These satellite parties allowed the major parties to secure a significant portion of the proportional representation seats.

New Rules for 2024

For the 2024 election, there are efforts to close this loophole and prevent such exploitation of satellite parties. The National Election Commission has proposed new regulations, including:

1. Raising the threshold for parties to gain proportional seats from 3% to 5% of the total vote.
2. Banning satellite parties from using colors/symbols too similar to their parent party.
3. Prohibiting major parties from openly supporting or campaigning for satellite parties.

While some argue these new rules may reduce incentives for creating satellite parties, critics remain skeptical, as major parties still have motivations to maximize their representation.

Potential Outcomes

It remains to be seen how effective the new rules will be in curbing the satellite party tactics. Some projections suggest smaller parties could gain more seats this time, as major parties may find it harder to exploit loopholes.However, others warn that major parties could still find ways around the regulations, potentially leading to a replay of the controversies from 2020.

Ultimately, how the 2024 general election unfolds will likely depend on the ability of the new rules to enforce fairer representation while accommodating the interests of all political parties.