hankyoreh

Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk (starting from the left); Kim Seung-ha

In the end, even Roh Hoe-chan, the “star” of South Korea’s progressive politics, could not stay free of the campaign finance trap. Figures both inside and outside the political establishment denounce the Political Funds Act as a “law that not even Roh Hoe-chan could obey.” The regulations about state subsidies for political parties and campaign fundraising create a system that is drastically tilted in favor of sitting lawmakers and big parties. As such, critics say, it serves as an obstacle that keeps minority parties, newcomers and unelected figures out of politics

In South Korea, staying in politics inevitably entails a steep cost, according to multiple people involved in politics who spoke with The Hankyoreh on July 24. On top of the cost of maintaining an office in your election district and paying your staff, money must also be spent on crafting policies and paying for meals and beverages for people you meet, not to mention your day-to-day living expenses. Leading up to the election, everything – including business cards, banners, transportation and text messages – costs money.

“Opening and staffing an office in your district means a fixed monthly cost of between 10 and 15 million won [US$8,933-13,399]. If you lose the election, you have to pay it all back with your own money,” said an aide to a lawmaker in the ruling party.

It was Mar. 2016 when Roh Hoe-chan took the money from a lawyer surnamed Doh who was associated with the blogger Kim Dong-won, also known by his online alias “Druking.” This was after a Supreme Court ruling in the “Samsung X-Files” case stripped Roh of his seat in the 19th session of the National Assembly and while he was preparing for the 20th parliamentary elections.

Sitting lawmakers are at least able to raise campaign funds by collecting donations throughout their time in office.

According to the Political Funds Act, the only people qualified to raise campaign funds are lawmakers in the National Assembly, preliminary candidates for National Assembly seats, mayoral and gubernatorial candidates, and preliminary and regular candidates for president. Members of provincial and city councils and candidates for those councils aren’t allowed to raise campaign funds. Those interested in running for the National Assembly can’t register as a preliminary candidate until 120 days before the parliamentary elections.

“Not only sitting lawmakers but also political hopefuls should be allowed to raise campaign funds. You need to be meeting people in your election district for at least a year before the election, and shutting that door gives sitting lawmakers a huge advantage,” said one person involved in politics.

Under the current system, the government subsidies and deposits that the National Election Commission (NEC) disburses almost all end up with the big parties. Under the current method of distributing government subsidies, half is given to the parliamentary groups (which consist of at least 20 lawmakers), while the remaining 50 percent is distributed in several stages according to several factors, including the number of seats in the National Assembly and votes received in the election.

Last year, the NEC paid 42.1 billion won (US$37.59 million) in ordinary subsidies to seven parties, with the Democratic Party and the Liberty Korea Party receiving 12.6 billion won (US$11.25 million) each while the People’s Party only got 2.7 billion won (US$2.41 million). That’s why minority parties complain about being forced to compete on an uneven playing field.

“As a public party, we have to investigate all issues affecting the Republic of Korea and come up with a plan for them. We may have fewer lawmakers in the National Assembly, but there’s not a big difference in the number of party officials,” said a member of the Justice Party.

In 2016, the NEC advised the National Assembly to scrap the section of the Political Funds Act that sets aside 50 percent of the total amount of party subsidies for parliamentary groups, but little progress has been made on this recommendation because of stonewalling by the two largest establishment parties. And the NEC runs the deposit system – in which political campaign contributions are distributed to parties that meet certain conditions – by the same standards as the political subsidy distribution system.

“When people give a deposit to the NEC, their wishes should be taken into account when that deposit is paid to the parties,” said Son Hyeok-jae, president of the Gyeonggi Forum for Civic Society.

According to the Political Funds Act, a National Assembly lawmaker can only raise 150 million won (US$133,854) a year. This limit is raised to 300 million won (US$267,708) during an election year. Corporations and organizations aren’t allowed to donate to politicians. Even individuals are limited to a maximum of 5 million won (US$4,462). These regulations have been in place since the law was revised in 2004 in a bid to rid politics of money following a 2002 scandal involving trucks loaded with cash. There has been a steady push from politicians to free up companies and organizations to donate to politicians as they do in the US and other countries while imposing transparency on the use of those donations. But many others also think that the current system should be maintained because of the need to prevent collusion between big business and politicians.

“Thanks to the Political Funds Act, the political environment is already a lot cleaner than it used to be,” said Lim Seong-hak, a professor at the University of Seoul. But Lim acknowledged the “need to make some adjustments to the amount of donations and the eligibility period for preliminary candidates.”

By Lee Kyung-mi, Um Ji-won and Seo Young-ji, staff reporters

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