Growing foreign electorate puts voting rights in focus at South Korea's local polls

At South Korea’s local elections on Wednesday (Jun 3), a record 151,000 foreign residents were eligible to vote. The figure is more than 22 times higher than when the system was first introduced in 2006, when only about 6,700 foreign voters qualified. Under the law, foreign residents aged 18 or older who have held permanent residency status for at least three years are eligible to cast ballots. This little-known feature of South Korea's electoral system – especially rare in Asia – has drawn renewed scrutiny in recent years. CNA’s Lim Yun Suk reports from Seoul. Subscribe to our channel here: https://cna.asia/youtubesub Visit our website: https://cna.asia Download our app: https://cna.asia/app Get our editors' picks of stories via chat apps: Telegram: https://cna.asia/telegram WhatsApp: https://cna.asia/whatsapp Follow us on these platforms: https://www.facebook.com/channelnewsasia https://www.instagram.com/channelnewsasia https://www.tiktok.com/@channelnewsasia