The ruling and opposition parties agreed on a political reform bill on the 17th, the deadline for drawing local council electoral districts. The main points are introducing a multi-member district system in four Gwangju districts and expanding the proportion of proportional representation seats for metropolitan councilors.
Cheon Joon-ho, senior deputy floor leader for operations of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Yoo Sang-beom, senior deputy floor leader for operations of the People Power Party, announced the agreement on the political reform bill at the National Assembly that day.
Through the agreement, the two sides said, "We will raise the ratio of proportional representation metropolitan and provincial council seats from the current 10 out of 100 to 14 out of 100," and added, "Among the current National Assembly constituency districts in Gwangju, we will introduce for the first time a multi-member district system for metropolitan and provincial councilor elections in four districts: Dong–Nam A, Buk A, Buk B, and Gwangsan B."
They continued, "For the pilot implementation of the multi-member district system in elections for autonomous district, city, and county councilors, we will expand from the 11 National Assembly constituency districts used in the 2022 election by designating 16 additional districts, for a total of 27," and said, "To ensure smooth operation of sub-organizations of city and provincial party chapters, we will allow one office to be established in a party members' council or a regional committee."
A multi-member district system enlarges the size of a given electoral district and elects multiple winners. Because it increases the chances of candidates finishing 2nd or 3rd, it is cited as a system that can break the two-party monopoly. Expanding proportional representation for metropolitan councilors was also an issue demanded by the four floor parties: Rebuilding Korea Party, The Progressive Party, Basic Income Party, and The Social Democratic Party of Korea.
However, backlash is expected from the four floor parties because the introduction of the multi-member district system is limited to Gwangju and the proportion of proportional representation seats for metropolitan councilors is only 14%. Earlier, the four floor parties proposed setting the proportion for metropolitan councilors at 30%.
Seo Il-jun, a People Power Party lawmaker who serves as the opposition secretary of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Political Reform, said, "Metropolitan councilors are basically elected in single-member districts, but with this Jeonnam–Gwangju integration, we decided to run a pilot," adding, "In four National Assembly districts in Gwangju, we will adopt a multi-member district system electing three to four metropolitan councilors."
Yoon Kun-young, a Democratic Party lawmaker who serves as the ruling party secretary of the Special Committee on Political Reform, said, "Originally, the Democratic Party proposed expanding proportional representation for metropolitan councilors to 30%, but during negotiations between the parties we narrowed our differences," adding, "Introducing multi-member districts into metropolitan councils that are single-member districts is a significant step forward."