Early-voting turnout hits 34.74 pct ahead of presidential election in South Korea
More than 15 million voters have cast their ballots in the early voting for the presidential election, according to the National Election Commission (NEC) on Friday, with attention now turning to how the near-record turnout would affect the formal vote next week, Yonhap reports.
The final early-voting turnout was 34.74 percent, the second-highest figure since nationwide early voting was introduced in 2014, according to the NEC. This year's number is down 2.19 percentage points from the all-time high of 36.93 percent for the 2022 presidential election.
An estimated 15,423,607 voters cast their ballots during early voting, which began at 6 a.m. Thursday and closed at 6 p.m. Friday, the NEC said. The election is Tuesday.
By region, South Jeolla Province recorded the highest turnout with 56.5 percent, followed by North Jeolla Province at 53.01 percent and Gwangju at 52.12 percent, whereas the southeastern city of Daegu showed the lowest turnout at 25.63 percent.
In Seoul, 34.28 percent took part in the early voting, while Gyeonggi Province recorded 32.88 percent and Incheon 32.79 percent.
About 44.3 million voters are eligible for the election election that will culminate monthslong political chaos triggered by former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid.
Both Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party (PPP) candidate Kim Moon-soo have been encouraging people to go to the polls during the two-day early-voting period, claiming high turnout benefits their candidates amid a three-way race that included Lee Jun-seok of the minor conservative New Reform Party.
For Friday, the DP's Lee visited Chuncheon and Wonju in Gangwon Province before heading to Chungju in North Chungcheong Province for his campaign rallies. This marks his first visit to Gangwon during the official campaign period.
Both the Gangwon and North Chungcheong provinces were regions where Lee lost to then candidate Yoon Suk Yeol in the 2022 presidential election.
Lee also appeared on cable broadcaster JTBC's YouTube channel and called for a special counsel probe to fully hold accountable those involved in Yoon's martial law bid.
"To bring the insurrection to a complete end, all those responsible or complicit must be identified and held accountable," he said.
He also said a supplementary budget under his administration will focus on revitalizing the domestic economy and supporting working-class citizens, citing his signature policy of issuing local currency vouchers, which are designed to help small merchants and the self-employed.
The PPP's Kim launched a 90-hour nonstop overnight campaign tour across the country in a final push to appeal to voters ahead of the formal vote.
He started off with campaign rallies in Gapyeong, Icheon and Yeoju in Gyeonggi Province.
Kim then traveled to Chungju and Jecheon in North Chungcheong and will head to Wonju and Chuncheon in Gangwon.
Earlier in the day, Kim delivered a public address at the PPP's headquarters, urging voters to help prevent Lee from taking office.
"To restore the economy, we must stop Lee Jae-myung," he said. "If we fail to stop him now, our economy could collapse in a way that we won't be able to recover even in five or 20 years."
The latest poll on the presidential election, published Wednesday, showed the DP's Lee in the lead at 49.2 percent, followed by Kim of the PPP with 36.8 percent. Lee Jun-seok came in third with 10.3 percent support.
As reported previously, a three-way presidential race has tightened as South Korea's Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung lost some of his lead in the latest opinion polls, while People Power Party (PPP) candidate Kim Moon-soo gained ground.
