The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsI get to vote in the local elections in Korea tomorrow for the first time
I'm an American and permanent resident of South Korea and since I've held my visa for more than 3 years I get to vote in the local elections. It looks like it will be an interesting experience. The conservative party has pretty much dominated the elections the last five years or so, maybe this will be a turning point for the liberals to get something started. We shall see.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)I admit I've never been to Korea but my understanding was that it is very politically conservative and largely a one-party state...kind of like Mexico under PRI for 71 years.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)They have a tendency, in my opinion to shoot themselves in the foot. In both 2007 & 2012 they lost the presidential election by narrow margins. The southern provinces tend to be conservative where closer to Seoul it tends to go back and forth a lot.
The saying "all politics is local" certainly applies in Korea.
The older generation tends to dominate the elections and they are more reliably conservative voters, whereas there is a lot of apathy among the younger people. I teach at a university and I've been badgering all my students to make sure they vote. This isn't my country, but I sure as heck want to have a say in the future and think young people should as well.
In the presidential election my FIL voted for President Park (despite me begging him not to). Her father was a ruthless dictator back in the 60's and 70's who was assassinated by one of his confidants with a bullet to the head. I tend to think he got it too easy given how many people he was responsible for killing. After Park has been in office for over a year now, my FIL is seeing what a bad decision that was to vote for her (and believe me I want to tell him I told you so, but I'm not).
I read a news story that said many of the candidates had a criminal background. Well that helps a lot.