South Korean diplomatic missions will begin receiving registrations on Sunday from overseas voters wishing to participate in their home country’s presidential election.

The registration process for overseas Koreans, conducted for the second time after the April 11 general elections, will be conducted at the 162 diplomatic missions located in 107 countries until Oct. 20. The voting will take place Dec. 5-10 at the diplomatic missions.

The registrations are open to those born before Dec. 20, 1991, and the number of eligible individuals is estimated to be about 2.23 million.

Those who are registered as residents of Korea or have a permanent address here are able to register by mail or in person.

Koreans who are permanent residents of other countries and those not recognized as residents of Korea are required to visit diplomatic missions and to present documents concerning their immigration status in the relevant country.

Although the National Election Commission has dispatched officials to 55 missions in 28 countries to promote the presidential election, concerns have risen that the complicated registration and voting process will keep participation low, as was the case in the April general election.

In April, about 124,000 or about 5 percent of overseas Koreans registered to vote. However, only about 56,000 people voted, measuring to a participation rate of 2.5 percent.

Those recognized as residents of Korea who have a simpler registration process accounted for more than 80 percent of the 124,000 individuals who registered to vote.

Although a revised Public Official Election Act with a simpler registration process for overseas Koreans has been proposed, it remains unclear whether the changes will be approved. In addition, those living in about 70 countries without Korean diplomatic missions will not be able to vote.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)