Early voting began Friday ahead of next week's parliamentary elections, with turnout reaching a record high just three hours after the polls opened, amid high interest in the vote seen as a midterm referendum on the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Voters began casting ballots at 3,565 polling stations nationwide at 6 a.m. in the two-day early voting taking place ahead of Wednesday's main vote to elect a new 300-member National Assembly. Voting hours are from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. As of 9 a.m., 968,438 people out of some 44.28 million eligible voters had cast their votes, recording a turnout of 2.19 percent, an all-time high compared with 1.51 percent in the 2016 general elections and 2.14 percent in the 2022 presidential election. The quadrennial race holds significant importance for the ruling People Power Party (PPP) as failure to regain a majority could potentially render President Yoon a lame duck for the remaining three years of his single five-year term. The main opposition Democratic Party ( DP) aims to retain its parliamentary majority. Rival parties have stepped up calls for voters to cast their ballots in the early voting, recognizing the potential impact of the advance voting turnout on determining the final election outcome. Leaders of both parties plan to visit polling stations later in the day. PPP leader Han Dong-hoon plans to cast his ballot in Seoul, and DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung plans to vote in the central city of Daejeon while on the campaign trail. According to a survey conducted jointly by Yonhap News Agency and Yonhap News TV earlier this week, 80 percent of respondents expressed a definite intention to cast their votes. Among those intending to vote, 39 percent plan to visit polling stations during the early voting period, while 58 percent intend to vote on Election Day next Wednesday. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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