By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Koreans living abroad may be able to cast a ballot in elections here as the governing Grand National Party (GNP) is seeking to grant them suffrage.
For the past 60 years absentee voting has not been allowed for overseas Koreans, meaning they could only vote if they were in Korea on the election date.
``Last year, the Constitutional Court ruled that it was against the Constitution to restrict overseas Koreans' suffrage,'' said Rep. Chang Yoon-seok, a policy coordinator of the GNP. ``We, therefore, plan to revise related laws so that they can cast a ballot in all domestic elections including referendums and general elections.''
The party is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the legislation early next month and will seek to get National Assembly approval soon, he added.
``Some people insist on gradual enforcement. But, as local elections are scheduled in 2012, I believe we can complete full preparation by then and help overseas Koreans get the vote,'' Chang said.
According to the National Election Commission, nearly three million Korean nationals stay in foreign countries as a sojourner or resident.
The figure would have accounted for eight percent of South Korea's eligible voters in the April 9 National Assembly elections.
The court judged last June that the current law restricting overseas Koreans' voting rights was unconstitutional, which promoted moves to grant suffrage to them.
The court also ordered the Assembly to revise related laws such as the Public Official Election Act, the National Referendum Act and Residents' Voting Act by the end of 2008.
The ruling party, hailing the judgment, stressed that all Korean nationals, including approximately 100,000 sailors who spend many days at sea, should be allowed to exercise their rights as soon as possible.
Political analysts said that the GNP may benefit from the revision as many overseas Koreans reportedly lean toward the conservatives.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has claimed that only sojourners should be allowed to cast a ballot.