Photo: Artist Carnival (artistcarnival.blogspot.com)

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           As a junior majoring in politics and international relations, I was taught by numerous people throughout my school life that voting is important. I still remember my 5^th grade teacher telling my class that he would give extra credit for students that were successful in pressuring their parents to vote for the presidential election. Most people know, or at least I would like to think they do, that voting is a citizen’s duty. I wasn’t an exception in acknowledging the importance of voting when it comes to the social system of democracy but I’ve never felt or had hands-on experience of voting actually creating meaningful change. That changed this week.

             The 20^th national election for the members of the National Assembly of Korea was held on April 13 of this year. Candidates from different parties and numerous districts had been campaigning for several months in hopes of earning votes. TV channels and newspapers kept  reminding us that the national election date was approaching, urging people to pay more attention to the candidates of their district. Being of legal age to vote, I was certainly not an exception to this process since I was continuously getting calls and text messages from candidates trying to persuade me that they were the ones who could create “true political change” in Korea. But every time someone would say that I would say to myself, ‘Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.

             I love Korea but when it came to politics, I would say to others that there was “room for improvement.” The Korean political system is imbalanced in ways that the ruling party (currently Saenuri Party) has most of the power in almost every political aspect that it makes no room for the opposition to voice their opinions. Up till now, the members of the National Assembly were almost all members of the ruling party and only a quarter of the members were from different opposition parties, making it harder for them to push for their own ideology. I do not want this article to be about criticizing a particular party in Korea. I believe there is no specific party to blame but the overall political structure in Korea which allows one group to have excessive power that should be frowned upon.

             However, this week’s election was different. It was proof that voting can make a difference. It showed that citizens participating and casting votes is the stepping stone for creating change in the political system. This Wednesday held a national election for the members of the National Assembly in Korea and the results were shocking. The ruling party failed in securing the majority of the seats at the Assembly and the Democratic Party (opposition party) successfully gained the votes, securing a total of 123 seats as a result. It has been over ten years since the ruling party didn’t have the majority of the seats at the National Assembly, which makes this election result more memorable.

             What are these results saying? First, it reminded politicians and people that citizens’ voices matters. With the Sewol Ferry incident, the worsening relationship with North Korea, the unstable economy and excessive unemployment, the ruling party was definitely lacking the capability to handle domestic and international issues. Citizens also knew that the ruling party was failing miserably. Citizens were not as naïve as the ruling party thought they were. This was reflected in their votes. By having more than half of the opposition party seating at the National Assembly, it would be a step toward balancing the power between different parties in legislation. Furthermore, with the support for the new party, the People’s Party, it will be a start of three parties counterbalancing each other. Before, there were only two parties that had significant public support to make change. This resulted in the two parties being active competitors even though their biggest goal of creating a better Korean society was the same. Polarization among the two parties happened. However, with more support for the newly created party, everyone hopes that there would be less emphasis on competition and more on motivating each other for the future.

             This election was a reminder for me that voting can create steps for change. It made me realize that my voice also matters. I hope that both the members of the ruling party and the opposition party take this result as a learning experience. For the ruling party, this should be a wake-up call showing that their current choices in politics are not successful in the eyes of the citizens. For the opposition parties, I hope they use this opportunity to create positive change and not get arrogant during the process. As for me, I hope to never forget the impact that small actions can create.