South Korea Kicks Off Two-day Early Voting For June 3 Local Elections

SEOUL, May 29 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- Many South Koreans headed to the polls Friday in early voting for next week's local elections and parliamentary by-elections, widely seen as a referendum on President Lee Jae Myung's first year in office, Yonhap News reported. 

Eligible voters can cast ballots at 3,571 polling stations nationwide from 6 am to 6 pm. until Saturday, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).

More than 4.12 million, or 9.25 per cent, out of 44,649,908 registered voters, cast their ballots as of 4 pm, according to the NEC.

The voter turnout was higher than the 8.22 per cent recorded at the same time on the first day of early voting for the 2022 local elections.

Many political leaders, including President Lee and First Lady Kim Hea Kyung, were among those who cast their ballots early.

The first couple cast their votes at a community centre near Cheong Wa Dae, while Prime Minister Kim Min-seok voted early at a polling station in western Seoul and urged people to vote.

More than 44.6 million people are eligible to vote in this year's local elections.

Up for grabs are 16 mayoral and gubernatorial posts, along with 227 heads of local governments and some 4,000 members of local councils.

Eyes are also on the parliamentary by-elections that will fill 14 vacant Assembly seats, with political heavyweights, such as Han Dong-hoon, former leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), vying for seats.

In a poll released by the NEC last Thursday, 73.6 per cent of respondents said they will definitely vote in the upcoming elections. Of them, 39.4 per cent said they intended to cast ballots during the early voting period.

The upcoming elections are widely viewed as the first major nationwide vote for the Lee administration since it took office last June after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted over his failed martial law bid.

Both the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the PPP have been rallying voters to hit the polls this week, with the former urging the public to make a stern judgment on what it calls the "remnants" of Yoon's insurrectionist forces.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP