Gwangju Superintendent Candidate Park Hyeja "Agrees to Lower Voting Age to 16"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Park Hye-ja, a preliminary candidate for Gwangju Superintendent of Education, expressed agreement with lowering the voting age for the superintendent election to 16 and supported youth participation in education policy.

On the 11th, Park, the preliminary candidate for Gwangju Superintendent of Education, stated, "I strongly agree with the opinion put forth by youth organizations to grant voting rights to those aged 16 and over," adding, "Youth also have the right to be respected as citizens who hold national sovereignty."

With the enactment and enforcement of the revised Public Official Election Act and Political Party Act in January, the voting and candidacy age was lowered to 18, and the age for party membership was lowered to 16.

Currently, voting rights for the superintendent election are granted to those aged 18 and over, but voices advocating lowering the voting age to 16, mainly from youth organizations, are emerging.

The Gwangju Youth Policy Coalition, launched on the 7th, argues for lowering the voting age to 16 as an institutional measure allowing students to participate as educational stakeholders to realize a student-centered school.

Just as the voting age was lowered to 18 in 2019 through social consensus, they propose granting voting rights for the superintendent election to 16-year-olds, who are first-year high school students in school age.

A representative of the Gwangju Youth Policy Coalition said, "Although there are some opposing opinions against lowering the voting age, similar criticisms were made when the voting age was lowered to 18," adding, "Lowering the voting age will have positive effects by enabling parents and students to discuss, criticize, and monitor education policies."

Candidate Park stated, "In the superintendent election, which selects the head of education, students as educational stakeholders are excluded and only receive fragmented information through SNS and other means," and argued, "To guarantee practical suffrage for youth, changes in systems and awareness must be prepared in various ways within the education sector."

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