Election atmosphere is in full bloom in Korea. Political parties are gearing up for the April 11 general elections with all sorts of things including changing party names, handing out political version of pink slips to incumbents and recruiting attractive new faces.
Systemwise, this year’s elections will see one big change: Koreans living overseas are participating in the election virtually for the first time. This change is the reflection of a noble cause to implement a true form representative democracy by ensuring people outside Korea to have their say in the election.
The inclusion of overseas Koreans was thought to be bringing significant impact as more than 2 million votes are up for grabs, which could form a decisive block in any election in Korea. No wonder parties have been establishing networks and branches overseas for the past couple of years. Korean embassies and consulates in foreign countries are busy preparing for the new experiment.
It seems that the presumed significance has been largely overblown. With the deadline for foreign voting registration just one week away, the National Election Commission says that only 80,000 out of 2,236,000 eligible foreign residents have registered for the April 11 voting. A mere 3.6 percent registration rate is quite dismal given the fact that the registration began as early as Nov. 13 last year. Compatriots’ disillusion with the domestic politics and a burdensome double-trip requirement are cited as reasons for the low turn-out rate. So, as it currently stands, the impact and effectiveness of the new system appears to be quite limited.
Regardless of the relatively small number of votes to be cast, however, this new attempt has many systemic pitfalls of its own. Here are some practical things to consider. A tricky situation may emerge when an infringement of elections laws takes place, which, by the way, is quite likely. The country’s election laws have gotten more stringent over the years, and each election recently has produced a long queue of dockets in the prosecutors’ office and courts. Even at the current level of registration, almost 100,000 votes being administered by 158 different missions in as many foreign countries could lead to good-faith or bad-faith allegations and accusations. Most worrying is a situation where persons responsible for such violation refuse to make themselves available to the enforcement of the Korean authorities.
It is against this background that the prosecutors’ office announced the creation of a task force dealing with election frauds and corruption in foreign countries. But this should be never easy because all these things take place in foreign countries.
As long as the alleged violation takes place on foreign soil, Korea cannot enforce the law in the country. The only way enforcement is made feasible is through cooperation from the country at issue (such as judicial assistance or extradition). But this type of international cooperation is sporadic at best and few countries would like to be involved in political turmoil of another country.
Another option is the person being investigated comes to Korea voluntarily, but this is more unlikely to happen. The likely outcome then: an investigation in limbo and parties wage political battles against each other.
Another example of practical questions is how to confirm the eligibility to participate in the election. As Korea does not permit dual citizenship yet (at least for people at voting age), any person who obtained a foreign nationality is regarded to have automatically lost their Korean nationality, which means they are not eligible to cast votes. But it is very difficult, if not impossible, for the National Election Commission to confirm whether a person has obtained a foreign nationality in a foreign country during his or her (long) stay in the country unless they tell the government affirmatively. Despite preparations, many technical issues will fall through the cracks.
Come April, vote-soliciting shouts and hollers will reach the apex. Like it or not, this over-politicization may engulf foreign constituents of Korea scattered around the globe. Pickets and shouts in front of the Korean embassies and consulates will have us in Korea, already weary of domestic politics, experience yet another dimension of globalization. Any irregularities short of perfect and seamless election administration could easily turn into a headache for this country and its foreign counterpart. Although a pure coincidence, a new experiment at the most volatile moment seems too unsettling. Examples and counter-measures of other countries should be more carefully examined so as to prevent unnecessary confusion.
By Lee Jae-min
Lee Jae-min is a professor of law at the School of Law, Hanyang University, in Seoul. Formerly he practiced law as an associate attorney with Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. ― Ed.
