From the 20th to the 25th, voting will take place over six days… Approximately 15% fewer voters compared to last time
“Even if you live abroad, if you are a citizen, you should naturally vote”
(BEIJING = News1) Correspondent Jeong Eun-ji = The overseas voting for South Korea’s 21st presidential election, an “early June election,” began on the 20th. Overseas voting will be held over six days from today until the 25th.
Korean voters living in China hope that the next president, elected in this election, will work to improve Korea-China relations.
Starting at 8 a.m. that day, the 21st presidential overseas election began at the South Korean Embassy in Beijing. Voters who applied for overseas voting went through identification procedures with their passports and resident registration cards, received printed ballots, marked their votes in the polling booth, sealed them in the provided envelope, and cast their vote.
Seo Mankyo, the head of the Korean Association in Beijing and the “first voter” of the day, said, “I hope that the lives and business operations of Korean residents in China will improve amidst the especially difficult situation in Korea-China relations.”
For this overseas voting, the embassy arranged shuttle buses that traveled between Wangjing, a Korean residential area, the university area of Wudaokou, and neighboring Tianjin.
On the first day of overseas voting, many Korean residents and students residing in Beijing visited the polling stations.
Goh Tak-hee, chairman of the Federation of Korean Associations in China, said, “This is my fourth time voting in a presidential election,” and “I hope this will be an opportunity for stabilizing the turbulent political situation and improving Korea-China relations.”
Song Ah-young, who is on language studies at Beijing Institute of Technology, said, “Even though I am studying abroad, as a citizen of Korea, I naturally need to vote, which is why I came here.” Lee Ji-eun said, “I don’t know who will be elected, but I hope it is someone who works for the citizens.”
Kim Moon-young, who runs a business in Beijing, remarked, “Beyond the interests of political parties, the citizens should be the priority,” adding, “If diplomacy leans towards one side, the harm falls upon the citizens.”
Jin Young-bin and Kwon Ah-reum, who visited with their two-year-old child, expressed, “It is beneficial for Korean residents if Korea-China relations improve,” and hoped “for their child to live happily in a good world.”
The embassy in China stated that 25,154 people registered for overseas voting for the 21st presidential election, marking approximately a 15% decrease compared to the last election. The decline seems linked to the reduced number of overseas nationals.
By diplomatic missions with polling stations, the Consulate General in Shanghai had the largest voter count at 8,892, followed by the South Korean Embassy in Beijing with 4,218. It was followed by △Qingdao Consulate General with 3,341 △Hong Kong Consulate General with 3,084 △Guangzhou Consulate General with 2,964 △Xi’an Consulate General with 758 △Shenyang Consulate General with 623 △Chengdu Consulate General with 572 △Dalian Liaison Office with 446 △Wuhan Consulate General with 256.