Human Rights Commissioner Song Doohwan "Welcome Expansion of Youth Candidacy Rights... Political Participation Rights Should Be Further Enhanced"

Song Doo-hwan, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Song Doo-hwan, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, welcomed the passage of the Public Official Election Act amendment lowering the age of eligibility for candidacy in the National Assembly, saying it will be "an opportunity to dramatically improve the political participation rights of youth."

In a statement on the 5th, Chairman Song said, "Allowing our youth to participate as candidates in National Assembly and local elections can be highly regarded in terms of realizing the spirit of the constitutional provisions and expanding their rights as democratic citizens."

However, Chairman Song pointed out, "There are still issues to be improved, including lowering the age of eligibility for presidential candidacy and improving the age for party membership under the Political Parties Act. In particular, since the age for party membership is set at 18, youth who turn 18 on the actual election day find it difficult to receive party nominations." He added, "There is also a limitation that minors must obtain consent from their legal guardians for political fund expenditures necessary for election campaigns."

Chairman Song stated, "The Human Rights Commission will do its best to ensure that youth can become sovereigns of a democratic society who actively participate in community decision-making that affects them as members of our society, and through this, further enhance their political participation rights. I hope that the passage of this partial amendment to the Public Official Election Act will serve as a starting point for policies to further promote the political participation rights of our youth."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.