Voting starts in South Korea's presidential election

INA-  sources


Voting began Wednesday to elect South Korea's next president to succeed Moon Jae In after a neck-and-neck presidential race between the ruling party's Lee Jae Myung and the main opposition party's Yoon Suk Yeol.

Among over 44 million eligible voters, about 37 percent have cast their ballots in early voting on Friday and Saturday. Over 14,400 polling stations opened at 6 a.m.

As the election will be held amid the coronavirus pandemic, those who have tested positive for COVID-19 are asked to vote from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. after the normal voting hours end.

Vote counting is expected to start by 8 p.m., and the results will likely be known early Thursday, with a formal announcement by the National Election Commission coming later that day.

South Korea's 20th presidential race for a five-year term has been very tight as the ruling Democratic Party's Lee and the main opposition People Power Party's Yoon engaged in negative campaigns and their wives were attacked over several scandals.

The latest survey conducted by polling firm Realmeter showed that Yoon was slightly in the lead with a support rate of 46.3 percent, while 43.1 percent supported Lee.
Ahn Cheol Soo, once the centrist opposition People's Party candidate and a distant third in the campaigning, dropped out of the race last Thursday as he declared support for Yoon, although it remains unclear how many of his supporters would vote for Yoon.


With the record percentage of voters casting ballots early, voter turnout could surpass 80 percent.

The incoming president will face a host of issues including diplomatic challenges such as thorny ties with Japan and political tensions prompted by repeated rounds of missile launches by North Korea.