Taiwan and South Korea are like-minded democracies in the Indo-Pacific region, where people have the right to elect their own governors, mayors and local council members. South Korea is holding nationwide local elections today, while Taiwan has its own local elections scheduled for November.
Diplomacy through local governments and sister-city programs has been a good way to advance Taiwan-South Korea ties despite the lack of official diplomatic relations.
South Korea and Taiwan are separated by a mere two-hour flight.
Taiwanese mayors and county commissioners often visit South Korea and vice versa.
All of the democratically elected mayors of Taipei since former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) have visited South Korea, including Seoul, Taipei’s sister city, during their tenures.
South Korean local elections hold an especially special place within the broader Taiwan-South Korea engagement because, interestingly, many Taiwanese in South Korea can vote in them, helping choose South Korean mayors, provincial governors and local council members.
When South Korea granted foreign nationals with South Korean permanent residency the right to vote in local elections in 2005, it effectively meant granting suffrage specifically to Taiwanese there, many of whom had lived on the Korean Peninsula for generations.
According to South Korean government data from 2005, South Korea had 11,239 foreign nationals with South Korean permanent residency. Of them, 11,003 were Taiwanese. That is, Taiwanese made up 97.9 percent of all those who newly gained voting rights in local elections. That speaks to the forgotten yet significant ties between the two sides.
South Korea was the last country in Asia to have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, only ending them in 1992. The former Taiwanese embassy in central Seoul, which had also served as an essential community center for Taiwanese living there, was taken over by China after the 1992 diplomatic switch. The Chinese embassy now stands at that exact location. Yet right next to it, separated only by a wall, is a primary school for Taiwanese residents. Every year, its students perform at the Double Ten National Day reception hosted by the Taipei Mission in Korea, Taiwan’s de facto embassy.
Taiwan operated a consulate-general in Gwangju, in southwestern South Korea, until 1992. China also took over that site, but the boulevard on which it stands is still named after Tainan, Gwangju’s sister city.
Hopefully South Korea elects leaders today who recognize this part of history.
Alan Jeong is a writer on politics, policy and foreign affairs based in South Korea.
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