O`seas voter registration for presidential election begins

Lee Hee-pal, 88, who was forced to work in Sakhalin, Russia under Japanese colonial rule, appeared at the third floor of the Tokyo consul general in Japan at 12:20 p.m. Sunday, the first day for overseas voter registration for Korea’s presidential election set for December.

After taking a waiting number, he waited for his turn with his eyes closed. When it was his turn, he submitted a passport, foreign resident ID and a registration application form that he brought with him. Upon getting a certificate of overseas voter registration for the election, he breathed a long sigh of relief and was all smiles in contrast to how he might have felt in March ahead of Korea’s general elections.

Born in Yeongyang County of North Gyeongsang Province in 1923, Lee was taken to a mine in Sakhalin in 1943. On March 28 this year, he visited the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo to exercise his suffrage right for the April 11 general elections for the first time in his life. He could not vote, however, because overseas voter registration was not done properly in the course of identifying him as an eligible voter.

Mindan, or the Korean Residents Union in Japan, failed to properly process his documents while supporting his registration.

Upon completing his non-residential voter registration, Lee said, “Even though I`m living in Japan, I`m not Japanese. My body and spirit are those of a Republic of Korean national,” adding, "I will cast a ballot without fail in the presidential election.”

Registration of non-resident overseas voters will be conducted for 90 days from Sunday to Oct. 20.

lovesong@donga.com