If you've lived in Korea long enough to recognize the campaign-truck jingle season, here's something most foreign permanent residents miss until it's too late to act on it: you can vote in the June 3, 2026 nationwide local elections. Not in the presidential race. Not in the National Assembly. But in the elections that decide who runs your city, your district, and your local council — yes, that's open to you, under specific conditions.
This guide walks through who qualifies, what's on the ballot, the campaign rules foreigners specifically need to watch out for, and the steps for actually showing up to vote. The information comes from the National Election Commission (NEC, 중앙선거관리위원회), the Public Official Election Act, and reporting from Korean news outlets covering the 9th Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections (제9회 전국동시지방선거).
- What June 3, 2026 actually is
- Who exactly can vote — the F-5 + 3-year rule
- What you can (and can't) vote on
- The numbers: foreign voter eligibility over time
- Campaigning rules foreigners specifically need to know
- Warnings — penalties are steeper than people expect
- How to actually vote: a step-by-step
- Final thought
What June 3, 2026 actually is
June 3, 2026 (Wednesday) is the polling day for the 9th Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections — known in Korean as jibang seongeo (지방선거). These happen once every four years. The last round was in 2022; the next after this will be in 2030.
This is not a presidential election. South Korea already held its early presidential vote on June 3, 2025 after the constitutional events of that year. The 2026 vote is purely local — meaning mayors, governors, district heads, council members, and education superintendents. Polling stations are open from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM on election day, and early voting (사전투표) takes place on the Friday and Saturday before — that means May 29 and May 30, 2026, from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM at any early voting station nationwide.
Who exactly can vote — the F-5 + 3-year rule
This is the part that confuses almost everyone. Korea grants limited voting rights to foreign nationals in local elections only. The eligibility test, set out in the Public Official Election Act (공직선거법) and tied to Article 34 of the Immigration Control Act, is narrow and specific.
To vote on June 3, 2026, a foreign resident must meet all three of these conditions:
- Aged 18 or older by election day.
- Holds permanent residency status — the F-5 visa — and has held it for at least three years as of the date the voter list is finalized.
- Is currently registered as a resident (외국인등록) in the local constituency where they intend to vote.
F-2, F-4, F-6, E-series, D-series — none of these qualify, no matter how long the holder has lived in Korea. The rule is permanent residency, not long residency. That distinction trips up a lot of long-term workers who assume tenure equals rights. It doesn't. If you're curious about other rights and benefits foreign residents often miss in Korea, the eligibility logic there follows a similar pattern: status-based, not time-based.
There's also a disqualification clause. Anyone serving a prison sentence of one year or more, or anyone fined 1 million KRW (about $720 USD) or more for an election crime, political-funds crime, or bribery within a specified period, loses voting rights regardless of visa status.
What you can (and can't) vote on
Korean local elections are layered. On a normal year, voters in most regions receive seven ballots in total. Voters in Sejong and Jeju, which have a slightly different administrative structure, receive four.
What's on the ballot
| Office | Korean term | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Mayor / Provincial Governor | 시·도지사 | Head of Seoul, Busan, Gyeonggi-do, etc. |
| District / City / County Head | 구청장·시장·군수 | Runs your local district office |
| Metropolitan / Provincial Council Member | 시·도의원 | Regional legislature |
| District / City / County Council Member | 구·시·군의원 | Local legislature, sets neighborhood policy |
| Proportional Metropolitan Council Seat | 비례대표 시·도의원 | Party-list seat at regional level |
| Proportional Local Council Seat | 비례대표 구·시·군의원 | Party-list seat at district level |
| Superintendent of Education | 교육감 | Runs your region's public school system |
What you absolutely cannot vote on
Foreign voters cannot vote in presidential elections, National Assembly elections, or national referendums. Those rights are reserved for Korean citizens. If a constitutional amendment referendum happens to be tacked onto the June 3 ballot — which has been discussed in political circles — foreign voters would still receive the local ballots but not the referendum paper.
The numbers: foreign voter eligibility over time
The foreign voter pool has grown roughly twenty-fold since the right was first extended in 2006 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration. Eligibility numbers reported by the National Election Commission and the Ministry of Justice tell the story plainly.
| Election year | Eligible foreign voters | Turnout among foreign voters |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 (first year of eligibility) | 6,726 | — |
| 2010 | 12,878 | 35.2% |
| 2014 | 48,428 | 17.6% |
| 2018 | 106,205 | 13.5% |
| 2022 | 127,623 | 13.3% |
| 2025 (eligibility snapshot) | ≈ 140,100 | TBD (June 3, 2026) |
As of January 2025, more than 140,000 foreign residents had qualified — up from roughly 48,400 in 2014. Of these, the Korea Times reports that about 81% are Chinese nationals, a concentration that has fueled ongoing political debate and several proposed amendments to the Public Official Election Act. As of this writing, the existing F-5 + 3-year rule still applies for June 3, 2026.
Campaigning rules foreigners specifically need to know
This is where the rules tighten unexpectedly. The Public Official Election Act generally prohibits foreign nationals from intervening in Korean elections — except those who actually hold local voting rights. Eligible foreign voters are allowed to campaign, but only within strict boundaries that are easy to cross by accident.
Allowed for eligible foreign voters
- Posting support or opposition for a candidate online (social media, forums, blogs).
- Sending campaign-related text messages — but not to 20 or more recipients at once.
- Participating as a volunteer in registered campaign activities.
- Carrying self-funded support items that do not exceed 25 cm (~9.8 inches) on any side.
- Phone calls and online posts within the legal window — even during the day before election day, when most other campaign activities pause.
Strictly prohibited — no exceptions
- Political donations of any amount. Under the Political Funds Act, only Korean citizens may donate to candidates or join registered support organizations. This rule applies to foreign voters with no exception.
- Spreading false information about a candidate or their family members.
- Creating, distributing, or even screening deepfake videos involving election candidates from 90 days before the election — that is, since roughly early March 2026 — regardless of whether the content is genuine.
- Damaging or removing campaign posters and official election materials.
- Statements of fact intended to oppose a candidate, unless they are both true and serve the public interest.
Warnings — penalties are steeper than people expect
Here's what the Public Official Election Act and the Political Funds Act actually attach to common violations:
| Violation | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| Illegal campaign activity (oversized items, mass texts, etc.) | Up to 3 years in prison or 6,000,000 KRW (~$4,300 USD) fine |
| Political donation by a foreign national | Up to 5 years in prison or 10,000,000 KRW (~$7,200 USD) fine, with illegal contributions confiscated |
| Damaging or removing election posters | Up to 2 years in prison or 4,000,000 KRW (~$2,900 USD) fine |
| Election-crime conviction with a fine of 1,000,000 KRW (~$720 USD) or more | Loss of voting rights for the statutory period |
There's a flip side worth knowing. The NEC offers rewards of up to 500 million KRW (~$362,000 USD) for credible reports of election crimes during this cycle. The largest such reward actually granted in a past local election was 150 million KRW (~$108,000) — paid out in 2014 for reporting illegal voter-mobilization payments by a superintendent candidate's campaign.
How to actually vote: a step-by-step
The mechanics are simpler than the rules surrounding them. From experience, the most common failure point isn't eligibility — it's people not knowing which polling station they're assigned to, or forgetting that ID is non-negotiable.
- 1Confirm you're on the voter list. The NEC publishes a confirmation tool roughly 20 days before the election. Search "내 투표소 찾기" on the NEC website (www.nec.go.kr) or enter your Alien Registration Number. If you're eligible but not listed, contact your local 구청 (district office) immediately.
- 2Decide between early voting and election day. Early voting runs May 29–30, 2026, at any early voting station nationwide. Election day, June 3, requires voting at your assigned local polling station only.
- 3Bring valid photo ID. Your Alien Registration Card (외국인등록증) is the standard document. A Korean driver's license works too. Photocopies, expired cards, and passport photos on your phone do not. If you happen to be sorting out other ID-linked tasks like filing Korean taxes as a foreign resident, the same ARC is what you'll need on hand.
- 4Receive your ballots. Most voters get seven ballots; Sejong and Jeju voters get four. Mark only one choice per ballot — overmarking voids the paper.
- 5Submit and leave. No photos inside the booth. No phones out at the screen. Selfies with a marked ballot are explicitly prohibited and have led to fines in past cycles.
Final thought
Here's the part most foreign residents in Korea don't realize until the campaign trucks start blasting K-pop remixes outside their apartment: yes, you can actually vote on June 3 — but only if your passport says F-5, your visa is older than three birthdays, and you're 18 or up. National Assembly? Presidential race? Not yours. Local mayor and the city council member who decides where the new park goes? Absolutely yours.
Heads-up that nobody mentions: turnout among foreign voters has been quietly tanking. It hit 35% in 2010, then nosedived to about 13% in 2022. So if you do show up, your single ballot punches harder than you'd think — especially in tight ward races where a few hundred votes can flip a seat.
From experience, the trickiest trap isn't the ballot itself. It's the campaigning rules. You can post on Instagram supporting a candidate. You cannot wire them 50,000 KRW (about $36 USD) — that's a five-year prison ceiling, not a slap on the wrist. The logic that worked back home doesn't fly here.
Bring your ARC, check your polling station on the NEC site the night before, and vote early on May 29 or 30 if Wednesday work meetings are non-negotiable. One ballot, four offices, zero cost. Cheapest civic flex in Korea.
Sources
- National Election Commission (중앙선거관리위원회) — Right to Vote and Electoral Eligibility — https://www.nec.go.kr/site/eng/03/10301030000002020070601.jsp
- National Election Commission — Election Calendar — https://www.nec.go.kr/site/eng/02/10203000000002020070611.jsp
- The Korea Herald — "What foreign voters should know about Korea's local elections" — https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10697247
- The Korea Times — "Foreign voting rights debate resurfaces ahead of June 3 local elections" — https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/society/20260315/foreign-voting-rights-debate-resurfaces-ahead-of-june-3-local-elections
- Public Official Election Act (공직선거법) and Political Funds Act (정치자금법), Republic of Korea
- Ministry of Justice, Republic of Korea — Registered foreign residents statistics
This information is current as of 2026-05-12 and may be subject to change. Always verify with official channels before acting.