South Korea officially enters National Assembly elections

At exactly 6:00 a.m. on April 10 (local time), polling stations across South Korea opened to welcome voters to participate in the country's new National Assembly election.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol participates in early voting on April 5 in Busan. (Source: Yonhap)

Yonhap reported that according to the National Election Commission of Korea (NEC), the voting will last until 6 p.m. the same day at 14,259 polling stations nationwide.

Under current regulations, voters will elect 300 seats in the National Assembly, including 254 seats elected directly and 46 seats elected proportionally by political party representation.

The interest of the Korean people in this 22nd National Assembly election is very high, as shown by the early voting rate in the two-day voting on April 5-6 reaching a record high of 31.28%. Thus, on the official voting day today, there will only be about 30 million eligible voters.

The record-high early voting turnout also draws attention to whether the final voter turnout will surpass 70%. The 2020 general election turnout was 66.2%.

Political analysts say the 48 constituencies in Seoul are the main "battlefields" that will determine the election results. Statistics show that the vote count in Seoul often reflects the overall election results.

The two largest political parties in South Korea, the ruling People's Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), which currently holds a majority of seats in the National Assembly, have both called on voters to actively participate in voting.

The PPP has appealed for voter support, saying the incumbent government has been unable to push through its reform agenda over the past two years due to the uncooperative opposition that holds a majority in the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, the opposition DP party called on voters to cast their ballots to deliver a "stern verdict" on allegations that the incumbent government has severely damaged the economy and people's livelihoods and mishandled a series of issues over the past two years.

The vote counting process is expected to begin immediately after the voting period ends.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/han-quoc-chinh-thuc-buoc-vao-cuoc-bau-cu-quoc-hoi-267298.html