The Kenyan Embassy in Seoul has concluded a three-day Mobile Consular Services exercise, offering passport renewals, birth registrations, and certificates of police clearance and marriage eligibility to citizens across South Korea. But even as the mission celebrated the outreach, members of the diaspora are demanding that future exercises go further by including voter registration and national identity card services.
Held from July 10 to 12, the exercise allowed Kenyans living far from Seoul to access essential documents without the cost and inconvenience of travelling to the capital. In a statement, the Mission thanked participants, noting that their turnout contributed significantly to the programme’s success, and acknowledged the support of Immigration Attaché Wellington Muli of the Nairobi embassy in Tokyo for helping deliver the exercise.
Among those who attended was Philip, a Kenyan living in Seoul, who welcomed the initiative but said it should not stop at documents. He argued that adding voter registration and ID services would allow more Kenyans abroad to participate in the country’s democratic processes without having to fly home, a sentiment echoed by others in the community as attention turns to the 2027 General Election.
An estimated 400 Kenyans were living in South Korea as of 2023, according to the Kenyan Community in Korea, with most based in Seoul and smaller communities in Busan, Gwangju, Cheonan, Daejeon and Daegu. The diaspora is largely made up of students, researchers, engineers, IT specialists and business professionals who rely on consular documents for work, study and family matters.
The exercise follows a March outreach during which the embassy processed passports and Certificates of Good Conduct, and comes against a backdrop of falling passport issuance nationally, which dropped by 36.7 percent to 393,567 in 2025 from 621,794 the previous year, according to a May report.
The renewed push for voter registration abroad revives criticism first raised in September 2025, when the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said it would not roll out diaspora voter registration pending policy reviews. Diaspora Network Hub founder Mudge Rulf condemned the move at the time, questioning why the government appeared reluctant to extend full electoral rights to Kenyans abroad.
With preparations for the 2027 polls gathering pace, the calls from Seoul add to mounting pressure on the government and IEBC to expand electoral access for the diaspora, even as embassies continue to strengthen document-based consular support.
