Korea's main rival parties agree on new electoral map

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• published: 23 Feb 2016
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여야 선거구 획정... 26일 본회의 But， the rival parties did manage to strike a last minute deal on the nation′s new electoral district map. The map which redraws regional boundaries and designates parliamentary seats is expected to be put to a vote this Friday. Oh Soo－young gives us the details of how the agreement came about and what changes will be made and where. Korea′s main rival parties reached an agreement Monday morning... on a new electoral map... with just 50 days left before the general elections in April. ″Despite our differences， we came to an agreement because the general election needs to move forward without anymore setbacks.″ ″This morning， Saenuri Party leader Kim Moo－sung， the National Assembly Speaker and I held consultations and agreed on changes to the election law revision bill.″ The redistricting plan will leave the total number of assembly seats at 300，... with 253 seats allocated for district representatives. The increase in those seats reduces the number of This reduces the number of seats designated for proportional representatives to 47. By district， Gyeonggi－do Province saw the highest increase of seats in parliament，... up eight from last year. Major cities like Incheon， Seoul and Daejeon each gained an extra seat. Meanwhile， Gangwon－do， Jeollabuk－do， and Jeollanam－do provinces all lost a seat. Gyeongsangbuk－do Province lost two. The previous electoral map was scrapped at the end of last year... to be redrawn to reflect population changes. ″Adjusting the seats this time around balances out disproportionate representation. Although late， it′s a positive move because it means the election system is more democratic.″ Bipartisan clashes over changes to the the proportional representation system，... as well as other key pending bills had stalled work on revising the electoral map for months. As lawmakers missed several deadlines， many， including candidates， feared the upcoming election would be postponed. A final version of the new electoral map has been submitted to the National Election Commission for review. ″Now the task is making sure that electoral boundaries are fairly drawn for the benefit of the voters， not for partisan interests.″ The bill will be put to a vote at a plenary session on Friday. Oh Soo－young， Arirang News. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS): http://www.facebook.com/newsarirang Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/arirangtv Twitter: http://twitter.com/arirangworld Instagram: http://instagram.com/arirangworld