Lawmakers ignore the law against party banners

There is a crony culture that stubbornly remains in the political sphere in Yeouido, home to the Korean National Assembly. It is the 'bill sponsorship culture' of incumbent lawmakers. To introduce a bill, a lawmaker needs at least 10 co-sponsors (lawmakers), who lend their names to each other. Basically, lawmakers who sympathize with the purpose of the bill should be supporting the bill, but it is not uncommon for them to support it in name only through a sense of companionship. Especially when a party’s leadership, such as party leaders, takes motion to submit a bill, lawmakers frequently add their names even without being asked. For this reason, critics say 'the number of co-sponsors of a bill equals the power' of a lawmaker.

Recently, however, some lawmakers have had trouble gathering co-sponsors. A case in point is Rep. Choi Hye-young (proportional representation seat) of the main opposition Democratic Party, who is preparing a bill to amend the Outdoor Advertising Billboards Act to prevent political parties from displaying an unlimited number of banners. It has been four months since she started preparing the bill, but she's only found one co-sponsor. She could not find one from her own party, so she asked Rep. Ryu Ho-jung of the Justice Party to co-sponsor the bill. Some lawmakers signed up when asked to co-sponsor, only to drop after checking the purpose of the bill.

Rep. Choi reportedly explained the purpose of the bill to dozens of her colleagues and asked them to co-sponsor but was repeatedly turned down. This happened with both elected lawmakers and proportional seat lawmakers seeking to be elected in constituencies. Lawmakers who need publicity through 'banners' for their reelection bid chose to ignore the public's fatigue and the chaos in local communities.

In particular, only incumbent lawmakers and chairs of parties’ local chapters are allowed to hang party banners, which can have a significant effect in blocking rivals’ challenge. Rep. Choi lamented, saying, "Lawmakers who were usually close to me said, 'I agree to the purpose of the bill, but not now (before the general elections).'"

This behavior by lawmakers is contrary to the original purpose of political party banners. According to the guidelines of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, party banners must be made at the party's expense (subsidies for parties) and contain policies. However, the reality is that the majority of banners are crude accusations against the other party and shameless self-promotion. One lawmaker even put up a banner that said he has been named a deputy floor leader of his party. There are also many lawmakers who hang banners with their own money. Local government officials, who are under the watchful eye of incumbent lawmakers, are turning a blind eye to such practice even though they are well aware of irregularities committed by lawmakers. Thus, a flurry of pre-election campaigning, which is banned by the election law, is happening in all different places.

Political disgust and fatigue are on the rise while incumbent lawmakers turn a blind eye to the problem of party banners. When Incheon Metropolitan City recently became the first local government in Korea to forcibly remove a political party banner, onlookers applauded, saying, "It was refreshing." In other local governments, people have been demanding en masse, "Please take down the banners in my neighborhood, too."

With the general elections coming up next year, incumbent lawmakers will unlikely be able to remove party banners by themselves. So, what the public can do is to make them realize that banners are counterproductive. Take note of the messages on banners you see on the street that offend or embarrass you, and call the lawmaker’s office to complain, or don't vote for them in the general elections. If all candidates hang banners in your community, you can vote for a candidate who hangs a banner that is a less offensive. If you do that, we may no longer come to see party banners that you find too embarrassing to show to children in your neighborhoods.