One in three (32%) of winners in North and South Gyeongsang, North and South Jeolla, and Jeju in the 9th nationwide local elections were found to have criminal records.
The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) said on the 18th that it tallied these results after conducting a full survey by region to verify whether capable local leaders were elected.
North Gyeongsang had the highest number and rate of winners with criminal records, with 38% (141) of 371 winners having records. It was followed by ▲ South Gyeongsang 37% (133) ▲ Ulsan 37% (29) ▲ Jeju 37% (17) ▲ South Jeolla–Gwangju 31% (138) ▲ North Jeolla 31% (81) ▲ Daegu 24% (43) ▲ Busan 18% (44).
By party in the Gyeongsang, Jeolla, and Jeju regions, winners with criminal records were as follows: Democratic Party of Korea 262, People Power Party 278, The Progressive Party 17, Rebuilding Korea Party 7, Justice Party 1, and independents 61.
In particular, there were 149 uncontested winners who were elected without a vote in the Gyeongsang, Jeolla, and Jeju regions, and 44% (65) of them had criminal records.
CCEJ pointed to the root cause that unfit candidates could be nominated as the "top-down, opaque nominations" led by district lawmakers of the two major parties.
CCEJ said, "Strict and transparent nomination standards must be established so that capable individuals who can truly work for local residents are elected," and added, "The concurrent holding of regional party chair by incumbent lawmakers should be banned, and a bottom-up nomination system should be introduced so that local party members elect candidates by direct vote."
CCEJ also noted that after elections, information related to winners' criminal records is not provided, making tracking virtually impossible. It said, "The National Assembly should move to amend the law so that information on winners' criminal histories is transparently disclosed and regularly updated even after elections, allowing the public to monitor and track it at all times."