The National Election Commission (NEC) of the Republic of Korea has announced that the registration for preliminary candidates for constituency member seats during the 21st National Assembly elections will begin from December 17.  

Those planning to become preliminary candidates should submit documents to prove their eligibility such as their Family Relations Certificate, criminal record documents and certificates of education, as well as making a deposit of 3 million Korean won ($2,550 USD), which is 20% of the 15 million Korean won (12,750 USD) deposit that the final candidates will pay. 

A person in a position that is restricted from running for office, such as a civil servant, who wishes to register as a candidate should resign 90 days before election day, which will be January 16, 2020. If a person plans to register as a preliminary candidate prior to that, they must resign before preliminary candidate registration. 

However, if a head of a local government wishes to register as a candidate in the same or overlapping district where they are currently serving, they should resign their position 120 days before the election, which is December 17. 

Preliminary candidates may undertake the following forms of election campaigning:

• Establish a campaign office

• Distribute business cards

• Use campaign sashes or markers

• Make direct campaign phone calls (made by the candidate themselves)

• Send one piece of preliminary candidate campaign material to a certain number of households within the constituency as announced by the election commission (maximum 10% of households in the relevant constituency)

Preliminary candidates are allowed to set up Political Fundraising Associations (PFAs) and may receive donations of up to 150 million Korean won ($127,500 USD). 

If you have any questions, for example regarding the requirements for preliminary candidate registration or allowed campaign methods for preliminary candidates, you can call 1390 or contact your local election commission.​