Lee pledges easier voting for Koreans abroad

President Lee Jae Myung pledged Monday to improve voting access for Koreans overseas, seeking to ease barriers created by the limited number of polling stations abroad.

During an event marking the 20th World Korean Day, Lee underscored his administration’s efforts to “reshape policies for overseas Koreans,” highlighting the role and contributions of some 7 million Koreans living in 181 countries.

Lee said he has sought to reflect the concerns of Korean communities worldwide, meeting overseas Koreans during each of his foreign trips to hear from them firsthand.

“The government will make sure that your voices do not end as mere suggestions, pleas or expressions of frustration,” Lee said in congratulatory remarks at the event, which was attended by some 1,200 overseas Koreans and returnees from a wide range of backgrounds.

“We will make the difficulties faced by overseas Koreans the starting point for institutional improvements, and ensure that good proposals are translated into policy and budget measures and carried out,” he said.

Lee reiterated his pledge to improve the overseas voting system, saying that the government will ensure that Koreans abroad can more easily exercise their rights.

Lee has repeatedly called for improving access to overseas polling stations.

Overseas voting has been available for presidential and parliamentary elections since 2012, but access remains difficult for some voters. Ballots are cast largely in person at diplomatic missions or designated polling stations during a limited voting period, requiring some Koreans in geographically large countries to travel long distances to vote.

In China, including Hong Kong, for example, overseas voting has been conducted at just 10 polling locations, including Beijing, underscoring logistical hurdles facing voters spread across a vast country.

During a meeting with the Korean community in San Francisco in July, Lee again acknowledged the difficulties some overseas Koreans face in exercising their voting rights and said the government would come up with “systematic measures for improvement.”

“There may be ways to increase the number of polling stations or introduce postal voting, and if sufficient stability can be guaranteed, electronic voting could also be considered,” Lee said at the time.

The government has since moved to examine such alternatives. At a presidential policy briefing in August, the Overseas Koreans Agency said it was aiming to introduce postal and electronic voting by 2028.

Speaking at Monday's event, Lee also pledged to strengthen support for the education of younger Koreans abroad, “so that our children, wherever they live, can take pride in their roots as Koreans.”

Lee further highlighted the government’s plan to build an integrated digital platform for overseas Koreans. The platform aims to make government services and policy information more accessible and better connecting Korean communities around the world.

World Korean Day, observed annually on Oct. 5, is a national commemorative day established to recognize the contributions of overseas Koreans and foster a sense of pride and solidarity among ethnic Koreans worldwide.