Democrats Abroad Republic of Korea (DAROK) is the official country committee for all Democrats living abroad in South Korea. We are the fastest growing country committee in the Asia Pacific region, and it is our goal to register every American in the country to vote back home and influence elections up and down the ballot. Help us accomplish our mission by clicking the “join” tab at the top right-hand corner to become a member of Democrats Abroad Republic of Korea. Then, make sure to visit votefromabroad.org to request your absentee ballot. 

Want to do more to help get Democrats elected from South Korea? Consider one (or more) of the following:

• Follow us on Instagram and Facebook and share our content
• Becoming a precinct captain and helping Americans in your area request their absentee ballots
• Forming a country chapter to host local voter registration booths, fundraisers, and get out the vote events in your province or metropolitan area
• Joining a DAROK committee and helping us create national level programming. We currently have three committees: Fundraising and Events; Diversity, Inclusion, and Recruitment; and Communications

To get involved, please reach out to [email protected].

Make sure to watch this space for announcements and news pertaining to DAROK. We have events planned throughout the year across the country, and everyone is encouraged to join.

If you have any other questions, please reach out to our Executive Committee listed on the right.

We look forward to working with you.  

Democratically yours,

Cory J. Lemke / Ha Woon Do, Chair

[email protected]

Democrats Abroad Republic of Korea

Call for Nominations:
Democrats Abroad Regional Vice Chair Asia Pacific

We are now accepting nominations for the bi-annual election of Regional Vice Chair (RVC) for the Asia Pacific (AP) region! This election will take place during the AP Regional Meeting on the 16th of May as part of the Democrats Abroad Global Meeting. One vote is allocated to each AP country committee and will be cast solely by country committee chairs and vice chairs. The chair and vice chair each carry ½ vote. If either is not present, the other will carry the full vote.

Democrats Abroad has three RVCs, one for each region, who:

• Are elected to a two year term that begins and ends with the regional election.
• Cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.
• Serve as one of 8 voting members of the International Executive Committee. Meetings are currently held weekly and typically last from two to three hours, but this is subject to change with the new leadership. 
• Organize and lead monthly regional calls of about one to two hours to encourage, inform, and create a sense of community among regional country committees. 
• Organize and lead a one to three day annual regional meeting to encourage, inform, and create a sense of community among regional country committees. When practical, these annual meetings are held as in-person events with remote participation available. 
• Act as a liaison between the International Executive Committee and one or more of the Democrats Abroad committees, lending a hand to the committee chair and assuming chair responsibilities should that position not be filled.
• Assist in organizing and attend the annual Democrats Abroad Global Meeting, preferably in person when conditions allow. Note that travel costs are the responsibility of the RVC.
• Work with existing country committees to mediate and resolve issues within their committees including election issues, membership queries, etc. 
• Track compliance status of country committees with Charter requirements and work with emerging and out-of-compliance countries to help bring them into compliance.
• Communicate International Executive Committee decisions, policies, and Democrats Abroad best practices to the country committee leaders.
• Bring regional issues to the International Executive Committee for discussion and resolution.

The eligibility requirements for AP RVC are as follows: 

• Be a citizen of the United States. 
• Be a member of Democrats Abroad residing within a country in the Asia Pacific region.
• Adhere to the principles of the Democratic Party of the United States.
• Due to the extenuating circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, residents of the AP region who are temporarily residing outside of their country of residence due to the pandemic may still run for AP RVC (example: resident of Singapore who is temporarily residing in France due to quarantines and travel restrictions). There must be an intent to return to the AP region following the lift of travel restrictions.

Self-nominations and nominations of others are both welcomed and encouraged! Please submit any nominations via the nomination form at this link no later than 23 March 11:59 PM EDT (UTC-4). Each nominee is required to accept their nomination no later than 31 March 11:59 PM EDT (UTC-4). Nominations from the floor of the election meeting will be accepted as well, and all official candidates will be given time to make a short speech.

A list of candidates will be released on 1 April following the nomination acceptance deadline. 

Please direct any questions to [email protected].

On behalf of the 2021 AP Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC),

Anthony Nitz (Vietnam, Chair)
Christine Valverde (New Zealand)
Michael Ramos (Australia)
Phong Quan (Singapore)