South Korea is holding elections today to determine a new president following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
According to a statement by the National Election Commission, voters in the country, which has approximately 44 million registered voters, began voting at 14,295 ballot boxes set up in election centers starting at 06:00 local time.
It was reported that 4.09 million people, comprising 9.2 percent of registered voters, voted within three hours after the ballot boxes opened.
Some 15.4 million people, or 34.74 percent of the country’s voters, took advantage of early voting on May 29-30. This was the highest rate ever seen since the early voting program first began in 2014.
Five candidates are competing for the presidency in the election. Lee Jae-myung from the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and Kim Moon-soo from the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) stand out as the strongest candidates.
Apart from Lee and Kim, the names of Lee Jun-seok of the New Reform Party, Kwon Young-guk of the Democratic Workers’ Party and independent Song Jin-ho are also on the ballot paper.
Democratic candidate Lee is the favorite to win the election
Lee, who narrowly lost to Yoon by 0.7 percent in the 2022 election, is expected to win this election.
Lee was leading the race with nearly 40 percent of the vote in recent polls, with a 10-point lead over his closest rival Kim.
Voting in the election will continue until 20:00 local time. After the ballot boxes close, the counting of votes will continue until the next morning, but the unofficial result is expected to be known around midnight.
Official results will be announced after the National Electoral Commission meets tomorrow morning.
Since the elections were held due to the impeachment of the president, the newly elected president will take office immediately after the oath-taking ceremony to be held in the National Assembly tomorrow, without a transition period.
