The Democratic Party of Korea lowered the party convention candidate deposit by 20 million won each to 80 million won for party leader and 30 million won for supreme council member. It also expanded reductions for candidates with disabilities. The move partly reflects the controversy over the "deposit burden," and President Lee Jae-myung had earlier pointed out such a burden.
The Democratic Party election committee held its fourth full meeting on the morning of the 21st and approved a plan to reduce the party convention deposit. After the meeting, Rep. Lim Ho-seon met with reporters and said, "I will share the results of the deposit review," adding, "Including the primary deposit, the party leader candidate deposit is set at 80 million won, and the supreme council candidate deposit is set at 30 million won, respectively."
A deposit is an expense in the nature of a security paid during candidate registration when running in a public office election, and the Democratic Party election committee on the 14th set 100 million won for party leader and 50 million won for supreme council member as the main election deposit.
Lim continued, "We are receiving 20 million won as the primary deposit and 10 million won, a 50% reduction, from young candidates," and explained, "In the main election, the reduced deposit will be paid after deducting the corresponding amount." Amounts paid in the primary remain without reduction.
At the meeting, a plan to reduce the primary and main election deposits by 50% for candidates with disabilities was also approved.
The background to the deposit cut was influenced by criticism inside and outside the party that the burden was excessive for young candidates. Candidates Kim Hyeong-nam and Jeong Min-cheol, who are running for Democratic Party supreme council member, brought the deposit issue into the open on social media, arguing, "For those outside the National Assembly, the burden is heavy when it is difficult even to raise donations."
In relation to this, on the 19th, President Lee also wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "The party's finances are not strained, and there is a need for policy consideration of young people's difficulties, so how about considering reverting the deposit to the previous level?" pointing out the excessive deposit.
Lim said, "At first, we judged it appropriate for candidates to shoulder at least the voting and counting expense, so we set it at 100 million won and 50 million won, but there was criticism that it was excessive," adding, "We adjusted it based on the party convention deposit levels from 2020 to 2022."