South Korean Politics and Elections

GNP Seeks to Boost Voter Turnout

Korea Times, December 13, 2007

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) is striving to raise the voter turnout in the coming presidential election.

A latest survey conducted by the National Election Commission (NEC) indicated that the voter turnout in the Dec. 19 election is likely to be lowest among the presidential elections.

According to the survey released Wednesday, 67 percent of the respondents said they will cast their ballot on election day.

The rate is lower than the actual voter turnout in the 2002 election, which stood at 70.8 percent.

The comparable figure around this time in 2002 was 80.5 percent, about 10 percentage points higher than the actual rate in the election.

Commenting on the trend that the actual voter turnout is lower than indicated by surveys taken before the election, NEC officials predicted the actual voter turnout in next week's election could be in the lower 60 percent range.

With five days to go before the election, GNP strategists said the conservative party is considering launching an awareness campaign to encourage eligible voters living abroad to visit the country to exercise their right to vote.

Lawmakers of the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) and the GNP failed to agree on a bill to grant the right to vote to overseas residents in July.

As a result, those who are absent from the country in the course of business, profession and occupation or while on personal business or vacation cannot take advantage of voting by absentee ballot in the upcoming election.

Eligible voters abroad must come to the country if they are to cast their ballot.

GNP officials said approximately 1,500,000 eligible voters live abroad.

The party's plan to raise the voter turnout is a reflection of concerns that its nominee Lee Myung-bak's continued frontrunner position in polls could lead Lee's supporters to lose interest in the crucial election.

GNP leaders are concerned if the lackluster campaign will result in unfavorable election results for their party.

NEC officials said they also worked on several measures to boost the voter turnout.

The election watchdog sent text messages to 16 million customers of SK and KTF, the nation's two largest mobile telecommunication businesses, asking them to participate in the election.

The NEC also plans to run several television and Internet ads to raise the turnout.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr

Lee Urges Absentee Vote for Overseas Citizens

Korea Times, September 3, 2007

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

Presidential nominee Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party (GNP) Monday urged lawmakers to legislate a bill to grant all citizens abroad the right to vote in major elections.

``It does not make sense that overseas citizens are not entitled to cast their ballot in elections because they live in foreign countries. The government has granted the voting right to foreigners having lived more than 3 years in the country,'' Lee said.

If political parties agree to introduce the legislation before October, about 2.1 million citizens abroad will be allowed to vote in the Dec.19 presidential election.

Experts said the possible inclusion of these new voters will have considerable implications for the election results.

The debate over granting nationals overseas voting rights has been further heated since the Constitutional Court ruled in late June that the current legislation preventing foreign residents from voting goes against the Constitution.

To date, partisan interests are a major stumbling block in the legislation becoming effective.

While the GNP supports the right to vote for all citizens, the lawmakers of the United New Democratic Party (UNDP) said suffrage should only be given to short-term residents abroad and be expanded to all others one step at a time.

The proponents of the GNP plan said that all Korean citizens are entitled to voting and granting citizens suffrage is one of the key guiding lights of the Constitution.

They also said there are no rules or legal systems currently in place that can distinguish short-term from long-term residents abroad.

The opponents of the plan hold the view that permanent residents overseas tend to show conservative voting behavior.

Therefore the liberal party members are slow to empower all voters to cast their ballots in the presidential election at a time.

As a National Assembly session opens Monday, a growing number of political analysts showed interest in the possibility of the two parties reaching an agreement on this issue by the end of September.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr

Constitutional Court to Rule on Expats’ Right to Vote

Chosun Ilbo, May 11, 2007

The legal debate whether to give Korean expatriates the right to vote here reached the Constitutional Court. As of late 2005, more than 2.84 million Korean expatriates lived overseas, 1.14 million for study and work and another 1.7 million as overseas residents. The number is large enough to determine the result of a presidential election, given that President Roh Moo-hyun won the 2002 presidential election by a margin of a mere 390,000 votes over rival candidate Lee Hoi-chang.

Ten Korean residents in Japan applied for the vote in Korea, arguing that denying the voting right to expatriates violates the Constitution. They said obstacles to understanding campaign pledges that had earlier been cited can now be overcome due to the Internet and other telecommunication technology. The Korean government rejected the request, saying giving the vote to expatriates could lead them to focus excessively on their homeland and expect support from the Korean government, rather than settle in the countries where they live.

Given the division of Korea, and a constitutional provision that makes North Koreans automatically South Korean citizens, giving overseas Koreans the right to vote would be technically hairy. Revisions of the election law that grant the vote to Korean expatriates are pending at parliament. But they are unlikely to be handled this year since they could open up a can of worms for the upcoming presidential election in December. But the Constitutional Court’s decision could have a direct effect on December’s presidential election if it is made this year.

The court will also decide whether to give Korean students and workers abroad the right to vote in presidential and general elections by absentee ballot. The Constitutional Court plans to make a decision on the matter as soon as possible.

(englishnews@chosun.com )

Contenders Seek Ballots Overseas

Korea Times, April 23, 2007

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

Presidential hopefuls of the governing and opposition parties are moving to enable South Korean nationals abroad to cast their ballots through absentee voting in the upcoming presidential election.

Last week, lawmakers of the pro-government Uri Party and the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) submitted respective bills in which they called for entitling overseas Koreans to participate in the Dec. 19 poll.

If parties reach an agreement on the issue before June, about 2,855,500 people _ 1,708,200 permanent residents and 1,147,300 non-permanent residents _ would be eligible to vote in the election.

Although the Constitution makes it clear every Korean has the right to vote, Articles 37 and 38 governing elections for public office exclude the absentee vote for overseas Koreans. The articles say only local residents having a social security number and living in the territory are eligible for an absentee vote.

Therefore, lawmakers are trying to revise the regulation, party officials said.

``The President has represented partial interest of those who live in South Korea under the current law,'' senior lawmaker Kim Deog-ryong of the GNP said at a bipartisan conference. ``By embracing all overseas Koreans into the law, the presidency will be finally complete.''

Rep. Kim Sung-gon of the Uri Party said, ``Although the pro-government party has not clarified its stance on the issue, the overall atmosphere is pretty optimistic.'' The party will soon see an internal agreement on that, he added.

Kim Sung-gon is a brother of Robert Kim, a former U.S. navy computer expert, who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1996 for allegedly spying on the US intelligence system. After serving eight years in prison, Kim was released in 2004.

Presidential contenders of both parties hailed the initiative.

GNP presidential contender Park Geun-hye pledged to make every effort to allow overseas citizens to take part in elections during her recent overseas trip.

She added Korea is the only country among member states of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that excludes its citizens abroad from elections.

Rep. Kim Geun-tae, former chairman of the Uri Party, argued overseas Koreans should not be discriminated against in elections just because they live abroad. He was committed to fulfilling his part to encourage lawmakers to produce an agreement by June.

GNP underdog candidate Won Hee-ryong shared the view that it is time for the National Assembly to reward overseas citizens with an approval of the bill as soon as possible.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr