KEY POINTS:
Only 2 per cent of Koreans in New Zealand voted in the last general election, and the Korean Society wants to make sure the same does not happen this time.
The community will gather at the Bruce Mason Centre on Auckland's North Shore to celebrate South Korea's 60th anniversary tomorrow but a big focus for the night will be the local election, a society director said.
"After we are told that only 2 per cent of Koreans in New Zealand voted in the last election, we have decided to use "Korean Night" to also ask people in the community to come to a political convention, and emphasise the importance of voting," said Kenneth Jeong, the society's publicity director.
"Koreans are used to a presidential system which is completely different, and what they must understand is that unlike Korea, every single vote can make a difference in New Zealand politics."
It is organising a political convention on September 20 at Westlake Boys' High School to enable people in the community to debate issues like immigration, education, crime and health with politicians.
"We want to get them interested in the issues, so they can come out and vote wisely this election," Mr Jeong said.
According to the 2006 Census, there are 28,806 Korean-born residents in New Zealand, making them the third largest Asian community after the Chinese and Indians.
Mr Jeong said he expected 1500 to attend the convention where immigration would likely be the "hot topic".
"Immigration (policy) affects Koreans in every aspect of life here," he said, because the community in New Zealand was "too small to support our people, unlike the Chinese".
"Koreans can often only find employment from a Korean employer, and when policies reduce the number of business and investor migrants from our country to zero, there (are) no more new jobs and people are left struggling to find employment," he said.
"To make matters worse, many Koreans who find it too hard to survive in New Zealand ... are leaving to go across the ditch to Australia."
Korean businessman Henry Park, who did not vote in the last election, says he has since realised the importance of voting.
"All the time, I feel that I am just a small person and cannot change the big picture. But like many Koreans, I think we have to stand up and vote if we want to change things we do not like in our new home."
The importer, who moved here in 1996, said he was struggling to find a market for his Korean-made products because of changes made to immigration policies since 2002 _ such as raising the English language requirement and the amount of money an investor migrant needed to bring to get a visa.
"These have made it impossible for new Korean migrants to come to New Zealand, and making it tough for the Koreans who are already here."
His wife and 13-year-old son have already moved to Melbourne and Mr Park says if the election does not result in change, he looks set to be joining them.
