Today's Edition
SEOUL (WAM)
The people of the Republic of Korea went to the polls Wednesday in crucial parliamentary elections to select the country's new National Assembly.
According to Yonhap news agency, the National Election Commission (NEC) said that voting kicked off at 6:00 and was to run until 18:00 (local time) at 14,259 polling stations across the nation.
After last week's early voting, just over 30 million people are eligible to cast their ballots in the main vote.
Public interest is high in this year's elections as shown in the record 31.28 turnout in early voting held Friday and Saturday, the first time the early-voting turnout for general elections has exceeded 30 percent since Korea introduced the system in 2014.
In the most recent update, Yonhap reported that turnout stood at 64.1 percent one hour before the polls closed, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous elections in 2020.
The NEC said some 28.38 million out of an eligible 44.28 million voters had cast their ballots as of 17:00.
The latest tally included part of the record 31.28 percent turnout for last week's two-day early voting, as well as votes by overseas South Korean nationals and those aboard ships, the NEC said.
Of the 300 seats at stake, 254 are directly elected and the remaining 46 through a proportional representation system, meaning voters will cast one ballot for a candidate and another for a political party.
