Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
Foreign voting rights debate resurfaces ahead of June 3 local elections
A voter casts a ballot at an early voting station set up at Yongsan District Council in Seoul, May 27, 2022, the first day of early voting for nationwide local elections. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Jung Da-hyun
Lawmakers push stricter rules, citing reciprocity with other countries
With the June 3 local elections approaching, debate has resurfaced over voting rights for foreign residents as Korea’s foreign population continues to grow.
It has been two decades since the government allowed certain long-term foreign residents to vote in local elections, but critics argue that the current rules violate the principles of reciprocity and international fairness.
The government first granted voting rights to foreign permanent residents in local elections in 2006 during the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
At that time, the number of eligible foreign voters stood at just 6,726, but the figure has grown steadily — rising to 12,878 in 2010, 48,428 in 2014, 106,205 in 2018 and 127,623 in 2022.
Under the current Public Official Election Act, foreign residents who have obtained permanent residency are allowed to vote in elections for local government leaders and local council members after three years of holding an F-5 visa.
According to the Ministry of Justice, Korea had more than 1.6 million registered foreign residents as of December last year, including 220,788 permanent residents.
Given this trend, the number of eligible foreign voters in Korea this year is expected to surpass the level seen in the 2022 local elections.
However, turnout among foreign voters has declined steadily. According to the National Election Commission, turnout stood at 35.2 percent in the 2010 local elections but fell by about half to 17.6 percent in 2014. It remained low in subsequent races, at 13.5 percent in the 2018 local elections and 13.3 percent in 2022.
Despite the declining turnout, the issue remains politically contentious.
Criticism has continued over the fairness of granting such voting rights. As countries including the United States, China and Japan do not extend the same voting rights to Korean nationals residing there permanently, critics argue that the current system runs counter to the principle of reciprocity among nations.
For example, foreign nationals are not granted voting rights in Japan. The Japanese constitution states that the right to choose and dismiss public officials is an inherent right of the people and limits that right to adult citizens with Japanese nationality. Foreign residents can only gain the right to vote if they obtain citizenship through naturalization.
Concerns have also been raised in Korea over the concentration of foreign voters from a single nationality. Of roughly 140,000 eligible foreign voters in Korea, about 81 percent are Chinese nationals, prompting worries that the voting preferences of a single national group could disproportionately influence local election outcomes.
Reflecting these concerns, several bills have been introduced at the National Assembly to tighten the requirements for granting voting rights to foreign residents in local elections.
Rep. Lim Jong-deuk of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) proposed an amendment Friday that would extend the eligibility requirement from three years after obtaining permanent residency to seven. The bill would also introduce a reciprocity principle, barring nationals of countries that do not grant comparable voting rights to Koreans from participating in local elections.
Separately, Rep. Seo Ji-young and 18 other PPP lawmakers proposed a similar revision on March 6. The bill maintains the current requirement, but would deny voting rights to nationals of countries that do not grant equivalent rights to Koreans.