Foreigners’ right to vote in Korea

In Korea, the subjects of voting rights are citizens, so in principle foreigners do not have voting rights. However, foreigners over the age of 18 who have passed 3 years from the date of acquisition of permanent residency status under the Immigration Control Act have the right to vote in the relevant ‘local government head or local council member election’. This is stipulated as a law, in Article 15, Paragraph 2 of the Public Official Election Act. (The English name of the law may vary depending on the translation.)

Korea's political system is a presidential system, so there are central elections such as presidential elections and national assembly elections. At the same time, since local autonomy is stipulated in the Constitution, local governments are established for local affairs and local councils are established as the decision-making bodies for the local governments. Since both organizations are organizations with a strong focus on local autonomy, foreigners have the right to vote if certain conditions are met.

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