Legislation is being pursued to prevent local council members who win seats through party nominations from leaving their parties early in their terms — a practice critics have dubbed "nomination betrayal" — following a controversy at the Incheon Yeonsu-gu Council.
Rep. Jeong Il-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, who represents Incheon's Yeonsu-eul district, introduced a package of three bills Tuesday — amendments to the Residents' Recall Act, the Local Autonomy Act and the Public Official Election Act — aimed at curbing the practice.
The bills focus on establishing institutional safeguards against the political disruption and erosion of voter trust that can result when a local council member wins office through a party nomination and then promptly leaves the party at the start of their term.
The immediate trigger for the legislation was the controversy surrounding Han Ji-hye, a Yeonsu-gu council member elected on the Democratic Party ticket, who voluntarily left the party early in her term.
Her departure significantly altered the seat composition and organizational structure of the Yeonsu-gu Council, drawing criticism that "voter trust has been undermined — it is unclear whether residents chose the Democratic Party candidate or the individual." Calls also grew for stronger accountability in the nomination process.
A similar case arose in the Sacheon City Council in South Gyeongsang Province, prompting voices inside and outside political circles to call for systemic measures to address post-nomination defections.
The amendments Jeong introduced would lower the threshold for residents to initiate a recall petition against a constituency-based local council member who voluntarily leaves their party within 90 days of being elected.
The bills would create an exception to the current rule barring recall petitions during the first year of a term, and would ease the signature requirement for filing a recall petition to two-thirds of the standard threshold, strengthening voters' ability to check their representatives.
The package would also require council members who leave their parties to formally report and publicly disclose the fact and reasons for their departure. It would further require that the formation of council leadership — including the election of the speaker, deputy speakers and standing committee chairs — respect the party seat ratios established by the election results.
The Public Official Election Act amendment would require that candidate disclosure materials in future elections include the party a candidate belonged to at the time of nomination, their current party affiliation, whether they voluntarily left a party and the stated reasons, making it easier for voters to review a candidate's political history.
Jeong said the legislation grew out of his recognition, through the Yeonsu-gu Council case, that institutional measures were needed to ensure political accountability after a nomination is granted.
"At the time, as the district committee chair for Yeonsu-eul, I conveyed community concerns and various opinions to the Incheon Metropolitan Party's candidate recommendation committee during the nomination process," Jeong said. "But this incident made clear to me that institutional mechanisms to ensure accountability — not just during the nomination process but after election as well — are absolutely necessary."
He added that "a nomination is not simply a procedure for recommending a candidate — it is a commitment between a party and its voters," and stressed that "leaving a party immediately after winning a nomination-backed seat can undermine voters' political choices and weaken trust in party politics."
"These amendments are not intended to restrict party departures outright, but are the minimum institutional safeguard needed to protect voters' choices from immoral and unconscionable defections and to guarantee their right to know," he said. "We will institutionally establish the principle that a nomination carries responsibility to the end, and embed a culture of accountable politics."
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
