South Korean parties discuss limiting noncitizen voting ahead of municipal election

The two main parties of South Korea are looking to enact tougher requirements for foreign permanent residents to vote in local elections, following a meeting of their two leaders on Sunday.

At the weekend meeting, People Power Party’s Han Dong-hoon and Democratic Party of Korea’s Rep. Lee Jae-myung discussed raising the bar for permitting noncitizens with F5 or permanent residency visa status to cast ballots for public offices, sources told The Korea Herald.

Following the meeting, the Democratic Party began an internal review of possible changes to the laws on public official elections and their implications at the suggestion of the People Power Party, sources said.

South Korea grants noncitizens aged 18 and older the right to vote in local elections if they have been permanent legal residents here for over three years.

Under a related bill posted by People Power Party Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, noncitizens would need to have acquired legal resident status in the country for at least five years -- instead of the current three -- to be able to vote.

Noncitizens who meet these requirements would still be unable to vote here if they are from a country where South Korean citizens are denied the right to vote, according to the bill.

“It is not in line with the principle of reciprocity to let noncitizens vote when the countries they come from do not give our citizens the right to vote,” Kim, the bill’s main author, said.

Han, the People Power Party leader, said in remarks Sunday that South Korea should place stricter limits on noncitizen voting. “I would like to suggest revisiting our voting systems for noncitizens, which are too lax, ahead of the municipal election two years from now,” he said.