[koreaherald] Overseas Koreans lobby for suffrage

Overseas Koreans lobby for suffrage 
 

 2007년 04월 17일 (화)  koreaherald  
 
 
Leaders of overseas Korean communities will launch a joint effort today to fight for their voting rights ahead of the December presidential poll.

The association will campaign for a revision to the current election law, which denies suffrage for about 2.8 million Koreans residing abroad.

The group will be inaugurated in a ceremony at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, said Kim Je-wan, head of To World 21, an online newspaper for overseas Koreans.

He will cochair the association provisionally named "The Alliance for Suffrage for Overseas Koreans."

"Among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members, Korea is the only country that does not grant voting rights to its nationals overseas," Kim said.

The association will lobby lawmakers and stage campaigns to raise public awareness of the need for the voting rights of overseas Koreans.

Separate bills have been submitted to the National Assembly to allow them to cast absentee votes in national and local elections.

The association will hold a public hearing every month until July to push for the revision, he said.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, there are currently an estimated 1.3 million Koreans temporarily staying overseas and 1.5 million who have permanent resident status. The figures exclude those who hold dual citizenship.

"All overseas Korean nationals want to get their voting rights. They've been fighting for it for 35 years since the former Park Chung-hee administration took absentee voting rights away from them in 1972," said Yang Chang-young, cochair of the association and professor at Hoseo University.

Some lawmakers are also joining in the campaign.

Rep. Kim Deog-ryong of the Grand National Party and Rep. Kim Sung-gon of the pro-government Uri Party will hold a public hearing on the matter at the National Assembly tomorrow.

Both lawmakers recently submitted separate bills to the National Assembly to revise the election law. The GNP lawmaker wants to include all Korean nationals abroad in a revision, while his Uri counterpart is asking for voting rights only for temporary residents.

Presidential hopefuls including Park Geun-hye of the GNP, Chung Dong-young and Kim Geun-tae of Uri are expected to attend the hearing, aides to the lawmakers said.

The Constitutional Court is scheduled to make a ruling next month on a petition filed by overseas Korean communities against the current election law. The court has rejected two previous petitions.

By Ahn Hyo-lim
(iamhyol@heraldm.com)
2007.04.17