Parties Search for Talented Women for Local Elections
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Political parties are going all-out in their search for talented women to run in the local autonomy elections scheduled for June 2.
So far only 5 percent of registered candidates are women but parties are seeking talented females before the official candidacy registration closes.
Data from the National Election Commission (NEC) shows that only three out of 67 preliminary candidates who have put themselves forward to run in governor elections are female.
A total of 646 people have completed their preliminary candidacy to run in city council elections and among them only 21 are women.
The NEC introduced the preliminary candidacy registration system to make sure that election hopefuls have a fair chance when it comes to campaigning against incumbents.
Unlike aspiring politicians, incumbent post holders have many direct or indirect opportunities to make themselves known as they can set up meetings with voters or organize other public gatherings.
Under the system, aspiring politicians who complete the registration process are allowed to meet with voters and promote their candidacies.
Not all those who register will end up running in the June elections, however.
Rather than running in a direct competition, many female candidates prefer running under the vocational representation system because it is considered less risky.
Under the vocational representation system, a certain number of candidates are automatically elected based on the votes cast for their party.
Campaign watchers pointed to two factors -- funding and organizations - as the two primary sources discouraging women from running.
Kim Eun-hee, vice chairwoman of Korea Women's Political Solidarity, admitted that women are less likely to make a choice for high risk high returns than men.
But she said that trait alone cannot sufficiently explain the lukewarm reaction of women when it comes to running for public office.
"I think that women in politics still face a barrier," Kim told The Korea Times.
"Our survey found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, money and organizations are not the primary concerns for women in politics."
Many female politicians say that surviving their party's selection process is much more difficult than winning the real election, Kim said.
In January, the National Assembly introduced a female candidate quota.
Parties must select a certain number of women to run in the upcoming local elections on their ticket.
The binding rule came in response to vocal demands by women's groups for greater representation of females in politics.