Seoul to lift ban on foreigners’ political activities

By Lee Tae-hoon

The government will abolish the rule that prevents foreigners from participating in political campaigning for local elections.

The measure is expected to take effect this month after the National Assembly approved a revision to the Public Office Election Law last week.

The revised bill, which will become effective upon promulgation, stipulates “foreigners who have the right to vote in local elections are entitled to engage in political campaigning for local government representative seats.”

Korea has granted suffrage in local elections to foreigners who have maintained permanent resident status for more than three years since 2006, but remained one of the few countries banning foreigners from campaigning.

Some 12,000 foreigners were allowed to vote in local elections in 2010, but they were also warned of a prison term of up to three years or a maximum fine of 6 million won if they publicly supported a candidate.

David Joo, a representative at the Seoul YMCA, welcomed the news, saying the change reflects Korea’s efforts to remove discrimination against foreign residents and grant them a bigger say as the country increasingly becomes a multicultural society.

“It is encouraging to hear foreigners with permanent resident status will be allowed to exercise their political rights in local elections without discrimination,” he said. “Korea lacked a system in which foreigners could fully represent themselves and independently participate in the making of policy.”

Iresha Dilani, head of Talk to Me, a migrant women’s volunteer group, said the change will pave the way for migrants to form a stronger political alliance.

“The measure will help raise awareness that people with different colored skin and different ethical backgrounds are also a part of society and they are also entitled to basic rights like any Korean national,” she said.

Dilani said many non-Koreans participated in political campaigning in past elections in hopes of improving the rights of foreigners here, often ignorant of the fact they were violating the law.

In May last year, foreigners launched a political network named Members of the Migrant Voters Alliance in protest of Korea’s “outdated legal system and the unfair treatment they have to endure.”

Observers say the revision to the Public Office Election Law reflects the growing need for the representation of 1.2 million foreign residents here.

In last year’s local election, Lee Ra, a 33-year-old woman originally from Mongolia, won a seat in the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly, becoming the first foreigner to be elected as a politician here.