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Members of South Korea’s ruling conservative party have proposed a bill that would place tighter restrictions on the voting rights of foreign permanent residents in local elections, which they insist is necessary to protect the country’s democracy from being undermined by Chinese voters.
Critics say the efforts to pass the bill could exacerbate racism and hatred toward Chinese people living in South Korea and would be a step back in an increasingly multicultural society that needs to embrace immigration to make up for an aging and shrinking population.
People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong, a close ally of President Yoon Suk Yeol, said Tuesday it has become crucial to prevent the voting system from being exploited as a “maneuvering tool” by other governments. He said, without elaborating, that there’s “significant” public concern over the political influence of Chinese nationals, who accounted for nearly 100,000 of the 127,600 foreigners with voting rights as of March.
“Most of our citizens living overseas don’t have voting rights (in the countries they live in),” Kweon said on Facebook. “(Voting) is obviously impossible in communist countries like China, and the United States and Britain are only giving voting rights to those with citizenship,” which means South Korea’s voting laws go against the principle of reciprocity, he said.
Under current law, foreign nationals with at least three years of permanent residency are eligible to vote for mayors, governors, and local council members.
