By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
One of the hot-button issues pitting governing party lawmakers against the opposition involves granting voting rights to Korean citizens residing abroad.
A National Assembly ad hoc committee on political reform convened its first meeting Tuesday to discuss the issue.
Under a proposal favored by the governing Grand National Party (GNP) legislators, up to three million Korean nationals living abroad would be offered the right to cast ballots in presidential elections. They could also qualify to cast votes for National Assembly elections and participate in local referendums.
But under a more restrictive proposal championed by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), a little more than one million Korean citizens abroad, mostly short-term visitors, would be granted voting rights.
In all, 22 bipartisan lawmakers make up the ad hoc panel, including 11 legislators from the GNP, seven from the DP and two from the Forward and Renewal Alliance.
The committee, chaired by Rep. Cho Jin-hyung of the GNP, is expected to introduce a draft revision bill on overseas voting rights during an Assembly session next month.
If the measure is ratified, it could have a major impact on Korean politics, and a voting block made up of overseas Korean citizens could wield significant political influence ― especially during closely contested presidential and local elections.
GNP legislators reportedly would like to extend the voting rights to as many overseas Korean nationals as possible, including long-term overseas residents and even those holding foreign residency permits, as long as they are over the legal voting age of 19.
What drives GNP members to cast a wide net and offer voting rights to as many overseas Koreans as possible, according to local reports, is that Koreans living abroad ostensibly have conservative leanings in their political affiliations.
It was reported that during the last presidential election in 2007, the vast majority of Koreans in the United States, as well as Korean-Americans, favored President Lee Myung-bak, the conservative GNP candidate.
The liberal DP, however, reportedly wants to extend voting rights only to short-term overseas visitors ― namely students enrolled in overseas universities, workers stationed at overseas branches of domestic corporations or involved in ventures with domestic investors, and government employees engaged in diplomatic services.
Under the qualifications proposed by DP legislators, roughly 1.1 million Korean citizens abroad could qualify to cast their ballot for domestic elections ― less than half the number under the GNP proposal.
Even if the measure is fast tracked in the Assembly, the earliest date overseas Koreans could be granted voting rights would be 2010, according to reports.
And it appears there is also a great deal of interest from overseas Koreans on this debate as well. According to a survey of 250 Koreans living abroad conducted last October by the Overseas Korea Foundation, more than 90 percent said they were interested in casting votes in local Korean elections. More than 55 percent said they would like the government to extend voting rights to all Korean nationals living abroad, not just to short-term visitors.
Legislative attempts to allow expatriate Koreans to vote in elections at home have taken place over the past two decades from time to time. A foreign commentator in Seoul said Korea may be one of the few OECD countries that does not grant voting rights to its nationals overseas. Another hurdle for the legislation involves administrative costs.