ID :
18844
Wed, 09/10/2008 - 21:10
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/18844
The shortlink copeid
Election watchdog to submit bill granting suffrage for overseas Koreans
By Kim Boram
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's election watchdog plans to submit a bill next month granting voting rights to some 2.8 million overseas Korean nationals, an election official said Wednesday.
South Korea has been seeking to revise the election law to give suffrage to
expatriate Koreans in presidential and general elections following a
Constitutional Court ruling last year that denying such rights violates the
civil rights of Korean residents living abroad.
The top tribunal gave the government until end of this year to amend the law.
"The National Election Commission will submit the motion stipulating
overseas suffrage by October, before the regular parliamentary session
ends," Cho Young-sik, secretary-general of the commission, told a
legislative session.
The 100-day National Assembly session ends Dec. 10.
Cho said that the newly introduced voting system for overseas Koreans will focus
on "fairness" and "active attendance."
"Because the court ruling included permanent residents as well as temporary
residents, the revised law will cover both groups," he said.
South Korea is among the few countries that does not grant suffrage to overseas
nationals. Overseas South Korean nationals were stripped of such rights in 1972
by the then Park Chung-hee administration, which amended the election law to
prolong the authoritarian leader's rule.
There are about 6.6 million ethnic Koreans living abroad, of whom about 2.8
million retain South Korean citizenship, according to government data.
The election watchdog estimates that some 8.59 billion won (US$7.8 million) will
be needed for the change, assuming that some 1.03 million out of 2.8 million
overseas Koreans are eligible voters and that 50 percent of them register for
absentee ballots.
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's election watchdog plans to submit a bill next month granting voting rights to some 2.8 million overseas Korean nationals, an election official said Wednesday.
South Korea has been seeking to revise the election law to give suffrage to
expatriate Koreans in presidential and general elections following a
Constitutional Court ruling last year that denying such rights violates the
civil rights of Korean residents living abroad.
The top tribunal gave the government until end of this year to amend the law.
"The National Election Commission will submit the motion stipulating
overseas suffrage by October, before the regular parliamentary session
ends," Cho Young-sik, secretary-general of the commission, told a
legislative session.
The 100-day National Assembly session ends Dec. 10.
Cho said that the newly introduced voting system for overseas Koreans will focus
on "fairness" and "active attendance."
"Because the court ruling included permanent residents as well as temporary
residents, the revised law will cover both groups," he said.
South Korea is among the few countries that does not grant suffrage to overseas
nationals. Overseas South Korean nationals were stripped of such rights in 1972
by the then Park Chung-hee administration, which amended the election law to
prolong the authoritarian leader's rule.
There are about 6.6 million ethnic Koreans living abroad, of whom about 2.8
million retain South Korean citizenship, according to government data.
The election watchdog estimates that some 8.59 billion won (US$7.8 million) will
be needed for the change, assuming that some 1.03 million out of 2.8 million
overseas Koreans are eligible voters and that 50 percent of them register for
absentee ballots.
