By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
Lawmakers are divided over the passage of an amended bill that would allow Korean nationals living abroad to vote by mail.
Several legislators, led by Rep. Kim Young-jin of the Democratic Party, who are known to be strong advocates of the rights of Koreans, held a meeting with a group of notable overseas Koreans at the National Assembly, Thursday.
However, many of them, including Rep. Hwang Yoo-yea of the governing Grand National Party, opposed the bill, which was submitted by Rep. Kim in March.
Hwang said mail voting violates the principle of direct election and appropriate measures to counter fraudulent votes should be drawn up before the introduction of the bill.
"It will be difficult to check the validity of the vote as the mailing system lacks the mechanism to check the identity of the voter," said Rep. Hwang, who co-chairs the World Korean Interchange and Cooperation Association with Rep. Kim. "The government should seek ways to increase the number of voting places by dispatching election officials or in cooperation with their local governments."
Kim says he believes the voter turnout among 2.4 million overseas Koreans eligible to vote would remain in the single digits without the introduction of the mail voting system.
"The majority of them will be reluctant to travel several hours to register and cast a vote at the nearest Korean consulate or embassy," Kim said. "This is not much different from telling them not to vote."
Kim predicts the turnout would reach over 30 percent, a similar level as local elections, if mail voting is implemented.
Currently, election authorities here allow only a handful of people, including the physically handicapped, to vote by mail.
In February, the National Assembly passed a bill permitting Korean nationals living abroad to vote in presidential elections and the proportional representation section of general elections starting in 2012.
Only Korean citizens whose residence was registered in Korea had previously been allowed to vote.