Lowering age to vote becomes hot political issue

Members of a civic alliance for youth's human rights call for the main opposition Liberty Korea Party to stop opposing the move to lower the voting age from 19 to 18, during a rally in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, March 22. / Yonhap

By Kim Rahn

When you are an 18-year-old citizen in Korea, you can marry, obtain a driver's license and become a public servant once passing the required state exam. You are also obliged to pay taxes on any income, and serve in the military if you are a man.

But there's one thing you cannot do ― vote. In Korea, 19 is the age when suffrage is given to vote for president, lawmakers, mayors, governors and other elected officials. For decades, there have been calls to lower the age to 18 to meet the age for other social rights and duties.

The issue has re-emerged recently after President Moon Jae-in said he plans to include lowing the age of suffrage to 18 in his suggestions for constitutional revision. It has immediately drawn pros and cons, from both the civic and political sectors.

Gov't moves to lower voting age

Senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk, center, announces President Moon Jae-in's proposal for a constitutional revision that includes lowering the age of suffrage, at Cheong Wa Dae, Seoul, March 22. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-gwon

In the President's proposals for changes to the Constitution, the voting age would drop from 19 to 18. Those aged 18 are usually high school seniors in Korea.

"From the Gwangju Student Independence Movement and the April 19 Uprising to the Busan-Masan pro-democracy movement and the latest candlelit protest, teenagers have played important roles, and their political capabilities and participation have changed the flow of history," senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk said in a briefing, March 22.

"Lowering the age for the vote is the demand of the times that cannot be delayed anymore."

He noted all 34 OECD member states except for Korea give suffrage to people aged 18 or even younger.

"By lowering the age to 18 and inscribing it in the Constitution, we'd like to guarantee young people's right to vote, providing them opportunities to express their opinions publicly in areas directly linked to their lives, such as education and employment, and reflect them in policies," Cho said.

In 2013, the National Human Rights Commission recommended the government lower the voting age, and the National Election Commission started talking about the issue in 2016.

Both ruling and opposition blocs are also positive about lowering the age in general, but they have said the issue should be settled through revision of the Law on Public Servant Election, not the Constitution.

Are 18 year olds mature enough?

Those aged 18 say they are mature enough to make a political judgment, as they learn about social and political issues via various media and exchange opinions about such issues especially along with the growing use of social media.

"Adults often say we are immature and are likely to vote for specific candidates who our parents or teachers favor," Kwon Ri-mo, a high school student who is a member of a civic alliance for youth's human rights, said in a recent radio interview.

"But think about the past when only men could vote: Back then, men said women were ignorant of politics and would vote for candidates their husbands favored. I think the current situation about young people's voting rights is similar to that past situation."

Kwon said older age doesn't mean a person is more educated about politics and thus has better political judgment. "I think teaching politics and democracy is what schools have to do," she said.

The civic alliance of which Kwon is a member has been staging rallies in front of the National Assembly since March 22 to call for lowering the age to vote.

However, many parents and conservative teacher groups say 18-year-olds may be mature in a political sense but it is still improper to give them voting rights considering most of them are high school seniors.

"The issue is not entirely about expanding political rights; there are many other things to consider," said Kim Jae-cheol, spokesman of the Korean Federation of Teachers' Association. "In Korea, high school seniors face college entrance exams and they need to focus on studying. Elections or political events will distract them from their studies."

He noted students have a strong peer group culture and are easy to be carried away by specific instigation. "It may be possible for students to be engaged in electioneering, such as distributing leaflets for specific candidates to classmates. Or there could be smear campaigning between students supporting one candidate and those supporting another. Schools, which are the venue for education, will be a mess," Kim said.

The spokesman said the nation needs to discuss such expected "side effects" before making a decision on the age of suffrage. "The nation has to prepare countermeasures against side effects that may arise if the age is lowered," he said.

Politically sensitive

Political parties generally consent to lowering the age of voting.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), as well as minor opposition Bareun Mirae Party and Justice Party, support it actively, with floor leaders of the parties participating in the civic alliance's March 22 rally.

"Young people including high schoolers were in the vanguard of the candlelit protests (that led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal), and it is ridiculous that Korea is the only country among OECD nations not to allow 18-year-olds the vote," said Rep. Woo Won-shik, floor leader of the DPK.

"I'll do my best to grant them suffrage so they can vote starting with the upcoming local elections in June."

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), however, says it consents to the age lowering "conditionally" ― it claims before lowering the age to vote, the age to start school should be lowered from the current six to five.

"We sympathize with the concerns that political disputes may take place at school," LKP floor leader Rep. Kim Sung-tae said. "So school system change should come first, so that young people can exercise their voting rights after graduating from high school."

But other parties say the LKP's stance is virtually against lowering the voting age because changing the age at which children start school is a big issue with diverse public opinion and it would take nearly 10 years to come up with a new system.

Rep. Hwang Young-cheul of the LKP, who leads the Assembly's special committee on constitutional revision, especially opposed the committee discussing the issue.

But it is said what's behind the LKP's reluctance to lower the age is the concern young people are more inclined to liberal parties and likely to vote for them, not for the LKP.

In 2016, Rep. Kim Moo-sung, former head of the Saenuri Party, the predecessor of the LKP, said, "In Seoul and nearby metropolitan areas, a candidate in general elections often wins or loses by a margin of only 2 to 3 percentage points. Seoul- and Gyeonggi-based lawmakers of our party won't let the age of suffrage be lowered."