The National Election Commission held a ceremony celebrating the ‘1^st Voters’ Day’ at Seoul COEX Auditorium on May 10.

800 attended the ceremony including such important figures as Chairperson of the NEC, Hon. Justice Nung-Hwan Kim, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Vice-Chair of the National Assembly, National Assembly members, representatives of political parties and related agencies and foreign delegations from election management bodies like AAEA as well as general voters.

Chairperson of the NEC, Hon. Justice Nung-Hwan Kim, said in his speech “64 years ago today, a general election was conducted for the first time in Korea to select Constitutional Assembly members by universal, equal, direct and secrete suffrage. A government was launched by those Constitutional Assembly members who enacted a constitution and selected a president. It was a starting point for democracy in Korea. Although today may be a belated celebration of Voters Day, Voters Day has been established and declared in commemoration of the general election held 64 years ago today. That election was also the starting point for democracy in our country.”

Hon. Justice Kim also stated and emphasized in his speech “An election is not only the starting point but also the flower of democracy and therefore public opinion expressed through elections must be reflected in the results of elections without distortion. To achieve this, people should take part in elections, voting and counting should be fairly done according to the law and intraparty competitions should also be conducted in a democratic and fair way. It is hoped that all the people, political parties and election commissions to participate in elections will strive to make the 18^th Presidential Election a festive one which falls on December 19.”

The ceremony had a theme of “Voters, you are a star of the election” and was conducted in an order of pre-ceremony programs, official ceremony programs and performances.

The pre-ceremony programs included the election photos exhibition, playing of a video containing future voters’ messages, Korean drums performance, etc.

At the ceremony those who made their contributions to enhancing an election culture were awarded medals and prizes.

Also at the ceremony a message from Secretary General of UN, Mr. Ki-Mun Ban was played and Vice-Chair of the National Assembly and Chief Justices of Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court respectively made a speech. A video containing messages from general voters and a flash mob dance performed by voter supporters was also played. In addition, other performances for encouraging voting by representatives of election-related bodies as well as those representing overseas voters, families of international marriage, female and disabled voters were shown. The ceremony was then followed by musical performances by the choir.

Meanwhile, the NEC has arranged a variety of events that people can participate in during the Voters Week from May 10 to 16.

“Korea Election Photos Exhibition” will be held at the Exhibit Hall of Seoul National University from May 10 to 16 and at Seoul Metro Art Museum from May 13 to 16.

On May 11, the “1^st Working Group Meeting for the Establishment of Association of World Election Bodies” was held at the National Election Commission with attendance of 15 representatives from 12 election-related regional associations and international organizations such as AAEA, ACEEEO, ACEO, UNIORE, EISA, IFES, IIDEA and UNDP.

On May 12, “Walking Event Celebrating Voters Day” was open to 3,000 participants including the representatives of political parties and civic groups as well as amateur club members at Hangang Ttukseom, Seoul.

The NEC will also hold a “Voters’ Participation Related Papers Contest” to enable university/graduate students nationwide to recognize the meaning and significance of election participation and to provide an academic forum for discussions on improvements of election systems. The application period is September 17 to 21.

The NEC already held the “1^st Korea Election Photos Contest”, “’I am a Voter in Korea’ Speech Contest” and “Elections Storytelling Contest” in May prior to the ceremony.

The NEC stated that establishing “Voters Day” would be an opportunity for people to reflect on the meaning of elections and would also encourage everyone to take part in elections. Through everyone’s participation, national development and national life improvement can be achieved, according to the NEC.