Voting underway for parliamentary elections in South Korea
Voting began at 6 am (local time) and was due to run until 6 pm (local time) at 14,259 polling stations across the nation, according to South Korea's National Election Commission.
People vote at a polling station for parliamentary election in Seoul (ANI)
SEOUL: Voting is underway in South Korea in parliamentary elections that could determine whether South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will be able to push his agenda forward with legislative support during the remaining three years in office or not, Yonhap News Agency reported. Voting began at 6 am (local time) and was due to run until 6 pm (local time) at 14,259 polling stations across the nation, according to South Korea's National Election Commission. After early voting conducted last week, just more than 30 million people are eligible to cast their ballot in the main voting.
People in South Korea will decide who will sit in the 300-seat National Assembly, with 254 members elected through direct votes in local districts and the other 46 allotted according to party support, Al Jazeera reported. People in South Korea have shown interest in this year's elections as per the record 31.28 turnout in early voting conducted on Friday and Saturday.
Since South Korea introduced the system in 2014, it is the first time the early-voting turnout for general elections is more than 30 per cent, Yonhap News Agency reported. As of 9 am (local time), some 3.07 million of the total voters, or 6.9 per cent, had cast their votes, 1.1 percentage points lower than the corresponding figure in the elections held four years back, according to South Korea's National Election Commission.
The People Power Party (PPP) has called on voters to support them, stressing that the Yoon administration has not been able to go forward on its reform agenda properly forward for the past two years due to the uncooperative parliament under opposition control, according to Yonhap News Agency report. The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has urged people to pass a stern judgement on what it terms the "incompetent" Yoon administration.
The DP has accused the PPP of causing the economy and the livelihoods of the people to worsen seriously and mishandling a series of controversial issues for the past two years. Many surveys taken before the blackout period, which began on Thursday, have revealed that DP candidates were ahead of their PPP counterparts in many districts, including even in some PPP stronghold regions in the country's southeast.
Support from people is also seen for the Rebuilding Korea Party, newly launched by scandal-tainted former Justice Minister Cho Kuk. On the eve of elections before attending a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on corruption charges that he claims were fabricated, DP leader Lee Jae-myung said, "Please vote to prevent the political force that has betrayed the people from attaining a parliamentary majority." If the opposition bloc secures win in more than 200 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, it would give the opposition parties a two-thirds majority strong enough to override presidential vetoes and even impeach the South Korean President.
On the eve of elections, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said, "Please give us a minimum number of seats that we can use to keep this immoral and shameless opposition in check. "Overwhelming support on Election Day is needed to prevent the Republic of Korea from falling into a state of decline," he added.
According to some observers, the DP cannot anticipate a comfortable victory as what the media has called "shy" conservative voters can turn out in large numbers to cast their votes, prodded by a sense of urgency, Yonhap News Agency reported. The record-high turnout for early voting has garnered the attention to whether the final turnout would exceed 70 per cent. The turnout in the general elections held in 2020 stood at 66.2 per cent.
Observers have called the 48 constituencies in Seoul as the primary battlegrounds that will determine the election outcome, as data suggests that results in Seoul often mirror the overall election results, according to the report. Another focus of attention is on how many seats the newly created minor parties like the New Future Party (Saemirae), formed by South Korea's former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon; Rebuilding Korea Party led by Cho; and the New Reform Party led by ousted former PPP leader Lee Jun-seok would get in the polls. Exit polls will be available starting at 6:30 pm (local time).