Why do we not get it while China does... The Singhaiming Incident Escalates Over the 'Chinese Voting Rights' Issue

Controversy Over Voting Rights for Chinese in Local Elections Becomes Political Issue
Ruling Party Lawmakers Emphasize "Reciprocity Between Countries"

As relations between South Korea and China cool down amid controversy over Ambassador Sing Hai-ming's remark that "betting against China will lead to regret," voices are growing within the ruling party demanding the revocation of voting rights for Chinese nationals in local elections.

Unlike South Korea, which grants voting rights to Chinese nationals after three years of permanent residency, China does not grant voting rights to foreign permanent residents, leading to arguments that this violates the principle of "reciprocity." President Yoon Suk-yeol has also mentioned "reciprocity."

On the 14th, Kwon Seong-dong, a member of the People Power Party, raised his voice on social media, saying, "Some media outlets and broadcast panelists have criticized the 'Reciprocity Fair Election Act.' They argue that foreign voters make up only 0.2% of the total electorate, so their influence is negligible, and some even resort to the absurd claim of 'China hatred.'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Last December, Representative Kwon proposed the "Reciprocity Fair Election Act," which would grant voting rights to foreign permanent residents based on reciprocity. If the bill passes, nearly 100,000 Chinese permanent residents would lose their local election voting rights, prompting some to criticize the move as riding on "China hatred."

However, he stated, "I absolutely cannot agree with labeling discussions on amending election laws based on the principle of reciprocity as 'hatred.' Our citizens do not have voting rights in China," and questioned, "Can we claim that China hates South Korea based on this?"

Representative Kwon also pointed out, "Many countries grant voting rights only to citizens. Cases where voting rights are extended to permanent residents are rare. Applying the logic of left-wing media here would mean the whole world hates the whole world."

Yoon Sang-hyun, a former chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and member of the People Power Party, said on CBS's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" the same day, "There are hundreds of thousands of our overseas nationals in China, but they are not given local voting rights. However, China grants local voting rights to those who have been in South Korea for more than three years," adding, "We need to have a dialogue with China on this issue or at least have an internal discussion, and this issue needs to go through a public debate process."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Reciprocity between countries is a principle of treating each other favorably if the other party does so. Political circles have consistently raised issues regarding voting rights for foreign permanent residents based on reciprocity.

When foreign voting rights were introduced in 2005, then-Assemblyman Hong Joon-pyo, now mayor of Daegu, raised reciprocity concerns. In December last year, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon said, "Granting foreign voting rights without considering the principle of reciprocity can distort public opinion." President Yoon also urged cabinet members at a government meeting the previous day to "make efforts to improve the system in line with reciprocity between South Korea and China."

Jo Jeong-hoon, a member of the Transition Korea party, also proposed amendments to the Public Official Election Act and the Resident Referendum Act last December to grant foreign residents local election voting rights and resident referendum rights based on reciprocity.

Representative Jo said, "In the past, we changed the law to grant voting rights to foreigners first to help ethnic Koreans in Japan obtain local election rights. However, Japan still does not grant local election rights to ethnic Koreans in Japan," adding, "Granting voting rights based on reciprocity is persuasive and aligns with our national interests."

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