Youths call for National Assembly to lower voting age to 18
SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- A coalition of student councils rallied Thursday to urge lawmakers to pass a bill to lower the voting age to 18 from the current 19 within this month as the country marked the 58th anniversary of a 1960 pro-democracy civil uprising that led to the ousting of South Korea's first President Rhee Syngman.
Participating in the rally at a national cemetery in northern Seoul, where 199 people killed in the uprising are buried, the group of high school students and collegians said in a statement, "High school students took the lead in the April 19 Revolution and were instrumental in overthrowing the dictatorship of the Rhee government."
They urged that the lowering of the voting age is needed for youths to take part in the upcoming local elections. Thursday's rally came as South Korea is gearing up for the June 13 local elections, where mayors, governors, education superintendents and leaders of local councils will be chosen.
"Youth suffrage is a basic right that is needed right now. We want parliament to ensure youth suffrage so that we can inherit the spirit of the revolution," they said. Since March 22, the group has staged a protest in front of the National Assembly to pressure lawmakers to approve the bill.
The 1960 civil revolt was prompted by public anger over vote rigging in presidential elections by the Rhee government. A series of nationwide student protests culminated on April 19, 1960, with hundreds of demonstrators killed or wounded in clashes with police.
The uprising ultimately forced Rhee to step down after 12 years in office. Rhee was the first president of South Korea, which was founded in 1948 after its liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.
namsh@yna.co.kr
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