Boundary Delimitation Commission to Launch as an Independent Body of the NEC = Established to Lay the Ground for Political Reform=

The National Assembly has amended the Public Official Election Act of the Republic of Korea to establish an independent Boundary Delimitation Commission under the authority of the National Election Commission (NEC), heralding the beginning of renewed political reform. The NEC has announced it will spare no effort in supporting the smooth operation of the new Commission, which will have the authority to decide political boundaries in the Republic of Korea.

The NEC commends and welcomes the bold decision made by the National Assembly and the Special Committee for Political Reform, led by Chairperson Lee Byung-suk, in which they have given up the right to even modify the proposals for boundary delimitation that will be delivered by the new Boundary Delimitation Commission. It is expected that this change will greatly reduce the arbitrary and political-orientated drawing of boundaries.

Under the previous system, boundary delimitation was the purview of the Delimitation Committee, which was part of the National Assembly, and the National Assembly itself exercised the final authority to modify the boundaries. This caused a number of issues in election management.

For example, there were instances where the election precincts were not yet confirmed even after the registration of preliminary candidates had already begun. This caused confusion for voters, who witnessed preferred candidates begin to campaign in their district only for the boundary to change and the candidate eventually being registered in another district.

Furthermore, the final decision regarding boundaries was only required to be confirmed a month before election day. Therefore, many election management decisions that are tied with boundary delimitation such as the ceiling on expenses for campaign spending and the deadline for public officials who wish to register as candidates were severely affected. This practice forced already complicated aspects of election management to be restarted close to election day.

These problems are likely to disappear in the future thanks to the passing of this amendment by the National Assembly proposed by the Special Committee for Political Reform that establishes the independent Boundary Delimitation Commission.

Under the new regulations, a Commission of nine members from various backgrounds and nominated by different stakeholders will decide boundaries and submit a proposal to the Special Committee for Political Reform. Only in the case that this proposal violates the election law can the Commission request the re-submission of the reform, which can only be approved by a vote of two-thirds.

The proposal is then submitted to a plenary meeting of the National Assembly, which has no right to modify the proposal and may only accept or reject it. This may also only happen one time. In addition, the boundaries must now be finalized before the registration of preliminary candidates.

The NEC understands it must have been a tough decision by the Special Committee for Political Reform to forgo the right to delimitate the political boundaries, especially given that most National Assembly members have a strong interest in how the boundaries are set. The NEC will make every effort to uphold the spirit of the decision and support the operation of the new Commission, which has been placed under the authority of the NEC, and achieve the overall goal of fair political reform.

The NEC has already arranged office space for the Boundary Delimitation Commission within the Commission and assigned necessary personnel in order for the Committee to begin its work immediately.

The 20^th National Assembly elections will take place next April, and therefore the regulations require the NEC and the new Commission to submit the final boundary delimitation proposal by October 13 after public hearings and consultation with stakeholders. The NEC is preparing all necessary materials, including population data, based on experience from assisting with boundary delimitation in the past.

The NEC expects the Special Committee for Political Reform will recommend bipartisan, independent and trusted candidates for Boundary Delimitation Commission Commissioners in the upcoming months and in accordance with the spirit of objective standards the Commission has been established.