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Korean expatriates in the U.S., China and Japan are demanding the right to vote in the presidential and general elections at home. The 3 million Korean expatriates would be a powerful variable in the upcoming presidential election if they are given suffrage considering that both former president Kim Dae-jung and President Roh Moo-hyun won the 1997 and 2000 presidential elections by margins of a mere 390,000 and 570,000 votes.
Some 1,500 Korean Americans living in New York and New Jersey launched a signature campaign in Long Island, New York on Tuesday to urge the Korean parliament to revise election laws. Organizations of Korean-Americans argued that Korean expatriates are clearly Korean nationals and the Constitution guarantees the suffrage of Korean nationals. They said Korea and Turkey are the only nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that still haven¡¯t given the vote to nationals living abroad. Korean Americans in Los Angeles launched a signature campaign on May 24, and Korean expatriates in China did the same on May 19. A similar demand will come from Japan soon. Opposition Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Deog-ryong, in a meeting with leaders of Korean-American organizations in New York on Monday, promised to push for a revision of the election law in June to help the 3 million Korean expatriates cast their ballot.
Korean expatriates were permitted to vote by absentee ballot until 1974, when the military government rewrote the law immediately after the draconian Yushin or ¡°revitalizing¡± reforms. The GNP now wants to give suffrage to all 3 million Korean expatriates, while the Uri Party wants to give it to only the 1.3 million whose stay abroad is temporary, including students.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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