» Voters listning to a speech by a candidate for the post of Yangcheon-gu office chief.

Residents in local constituencies are increasingly calling for politicians removed from their positions after charges including corruption and election fraud to pay for the costs of subsequent by-elections to choose a new person to fill the post.

This movement is gaining momentum in several regional constituencies where the costs of by-elections are paid for with taxpayers’ money. On April 25, 3 parliamentary seats and 55 constituencies around the country will hold by-elections due to officials being removed from office due to corruption or election fraud; the total cost of these unexpected elections will total an estimated 6 billion won (US$6.47 million). While the central government bears the financial burden for parliamentary by-elections, the cost of by-elections for mayors or other regional posts is being financed by each local office.

At the center of the controversy has been a budget loophole for funding unexpected by-elections for local offices. Local governments have been able to spend "emergency funds," set aside to cope with large-scale accidents such as epidemics or floods, to pay for the by-elections.

On April 20, about 800 residents of Seoul’s Yangcheon-gu filed a compensation suit with the Seoul Southern District Court against the ward office’s former chief, Lee Hun-gu of the Grand National Party (GNP), seeking 2.04 billion won in damages. Lee resigned after being accused of paying another to take the middle school equivalency exam for him. Lee’s former post is now one of vacant seats up for grabs in by-elections on April 25. In the court statement, the residents of Yangcheon-gu demanded Lee pay 1.62 billion won in by-election costs and 50,000 won per resident in compensation. Park Jing-chul, the Yangcheon resident leading the suit, said, "When a politician steps down on charges of corruption, an election is held to pick another politician with taxpayers’ money...We want to put the onus on these politicians," Park said.

In Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, mayor Choi Yong-soo of the GNP was arrested October last year for taking bribes and stepped down from his post. The city will hold by-elections for the position on April 25.

On April 20, Dongducheon’s branch of the progressive Democratic Labor Party issued a statement, saying, "The GNP must pay 700 million won in by-election costs." Hong Jae-ung, a leader of the Dongducheon branch of the Democratic Labor Party, said, "24.4 percent of Dongducheon city’s budget is covered by the residents. While the by-election could damage the city’s finances, nobody is taking responsibility," Hong continued.

This year, Dongducheon will spend about 700 million won, or nearly a fifth of its annual supplementary budget of 3.2 billion won, to hold the by-election to fill its vacant mayorial post.

Oh Jeong-hyeon, an attorney representing the residents of Yangcheon-gu, said, "Though there are some arguments that residents cannot directly seek the cost of elections from former winners, these politicians may have to pay compensation. No judicial precedent has been found yet, but I am looking for it," Oh said.

Some experts called for voters to abandon their lawsuit and instead show their dissatisfaction through their votes in the by-elections and asked lawmakers to enact related countermeasures.

Ewha Womans University [sic] professor Kim Su-jin said, "There is a possibility of double punishment if the head of a local government is punished by the court for violating election laws and must also pay damages in the residents’ lawsuit. The sentiment of the residents is understandable. The problem may be resolved throught the enactment of legislation that would deal with these cases."

Jeong Jae-gak, a researcher at Hanyang University’s research center for local autonomy, said, "As a way of resolving the problem, the National Election Commission could cut subsidies for any political party which endorsed a candidate that stepped down due to illegal acts. The subsidies could instead go toward the cost of by-elections."

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]