Jang Seon-sim (67), who lives in Seoul's Sungin-dong, felt excitement for the first time after casting her vote on the morning of the 5th. Jang visited the local community center at 9 a.m. to cast 'a vote.' Even after electing presidents and members of the National Assembly for decades, she had never felt this thrilled about voting before. She participated in the election to choose the director of the local Saemaul Geumgo. Jang said, "I have entrusted my money to the village credit union (the old name for Saemaul Geumgo) for over 20 years, but this is the first time I've elected a director. I'm excited to choose someone who will manage my money, so I came out early to vote."
For the first time in history, a nationwide simultaneous election for directors of Saemaul Geumgos was held on this day. This election also marks the first direct election where general members directly elect their directors. Directors of 1,163 out of 1,276 credit unions are being elected, which is over 90%. A total of 1,606 candidates are competing for the director positions.
A polling station was also set up at the Sungin 1-dong community center in Jongno District, Seoul, with voting taking place for the directors of Jongno Central Geumgo and Gwanghwamun Geumgo. Even though it was a weekday morning and not a public holiday, people kept coming to the polling station. Saemaul Geumgo members who finished voting praised the first election, saying, "It was a really good decision to allow members to directly elect the director."
Additionally, members who met on the day said in unison, "We came to vote for someone who will properly manage our money." Kim Gap-seok (74), who has been using Jongno Central Geumgo for two years, noted, "There have been many bad news reports about Saemaul Geumgo recently, so I thought we need someone who can manage the credit union stably this year, and that's why I came to vote." Lee Soon-ja (80), a resident ofchangsin-dong, said, "I voted for someone who will manage my money well so I won't lose it, and I feel good about directly choosing the director."
In particular, this election had added fairness as the National Election Commission took charge of managing the election. The commission oversees the election of directors at 1,101 credit unions. Among these, about half, or 534 credit unions, are conducting direct elections where members directly elect their directors. The commission has set up 536 polling stations nationwide.
Previously, directors of Saemaul Geumgos were elected through indirect elections by delegates or at general meetings. The number of delegates per credit union is about 100 to 150, and in the past, director candidates only needed to gain the support of these delegates. Consequently, the procedure for listening to the opinions of the entire membership was ignored, leading to ongoing criticism of the practice as a money-driven election.
The political sector recognized this issue and introduced direct elections. The National Assembly amended the Saemaul Geumgo Act in 2021, incorporating provisions for direct elections of directors and mandatory commission oversight. However, not all credit union directors are elected by member vote, as only credit unions with assets of over 200 billion won are required to hold direct elections. In this election, more than half, or 567 credit unions, will elect their directors through the existing methods, such as delegate votes or general meetings.
Voting on the day took place for 10 hours, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The election commission plans to announce the results on its website and other platforms on the 6th. The elected official will serve as director for four years starting from the 21st of this month. The newly elected director will have voting rights in the upcoming Saemaul Geumgo Central Association election scheduled for December this year.