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LA community launches overseas voting campaign for April Korean election

November 18, 2015

Los Angeles Korean American community organization leaders gathered Tuesday to launch a campaign encouraging eligible Korean nationals to participate in overseas voting registration for the upcoming legislative election in Korea. (Park Sang-hyuk/Korea Times)

By Kim Chul-soo

Los Angeles Korean American organizations are coming together to encourage local Korean nationals to take advantage of overseas voters registration for the April Korean legislative election.

Registration, which opened this past weekend, is being offered through 169 diplomatic offices around the world.

Thirty local organizations, including the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles, announced Tuesday a campaign to promote overseas voting through Feb. 13, the deadline for registration.

About 165 people — or about 0.1 percent of eligible voters — had signed up to vote as of this week through the Los Angeles Korean Consulate General.

Although overseas voting was introduced to Korean nationals outside the country in 2012, only 5 percent of eligible voters participated in that year’s presidential election.

Local organization leaders are worried that low overseas voting participation may reduce the political power of overseas Koreans.

“The overseas Korean community worked hard for many years to receive this political right, but if no one participates, the Korean government will not listen to the voices of the overseas community,” said James Ahn, KAFLA president.

Organization leaders agreed Tuesday to introduce posters encouraging Korean nationals to vote in high-traffic markets, churches and shopping malls around the city.

“In Shanghai, Hanoi and Washington, Korean communities are launching campaigns to get more overseas voters to participate and to take charge of their political rights,” Ahn said. “We’re aiming to get at least 30 percent of eligible Korean voters under the oversight of the Los Angeles Consulate General to participate in this election.”

This year, the Korean government is offering registration through three methods: online, in person at the nearest diplomatic office, or via mail.

Visit ova.nec.go.kr to register to vote as an overseas Korean.