Early voting kicks off with heavy turnout in South Korea elections

SEOUL, April 5 (UPI) -- South Korean voters turned out in record-setting numbers for early voting Friday ahead of next week's parliamentary elections, which are widely seen as a midterm referendum on the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Voters began casting ballots at 3,565 polling stations nationwide in a two-day early voting period before the main vote on Wednesday for the 300-member National Assembly.

When the polls closed at 6 p.m., some 6.91 million people, or 15.61% of eligible voters, had cast a ballot, according to the National Election Commission. It was the highest figure ever in early voting for a general election and well above the 12.04% turnout at the same time four years ago.

Yoon's People Power Party is aiming to take the majority in the National Assembly, which is currently dominated by the opposition Democratic Party.

In 2022, the conservative Yoon narrowly edged out his opponent Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party by a razor-thin margin. A Democratic Party-led bloc has held 180 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly since 2020, however, severely hampering Yoon's domestic agenda.

A poll released last week by Gallup Korea showed the PPP with greater support than the Democratic Party, at 37% to 29%. But Yoon's party would need to flip more than 30 seats to take control of the parliament, widely considered a tall order.

That task is made more difficult as Yoon has been saddled with low approval ratings over his handling of a wide range of issues from sky-high housing prices and soaring food costs to concerns over the country's plunging birth rate, which is the lowest in the world.

Last week's Gallup Korea poll saw his support drop from a recent high of 39% to 34% ahead of the election.

Yoon has also been at the center of a standoff with striking trainee doctors that has dragged on since February, while his administration has been beset by corruption allegations, including a highly publicized scandal around First Lady Kim Keon Hee accepting the gift of a Dior bag.

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is facing corruption challenges of his own and is currently facing trials over a range of charges including bribery.

Next week's result will play a large role in Yoon's ability to press ahead with his agenda over the remaining three years of his mandatory single five-year term.

On the domestic front, Yoon has long been aiming to push through economic reforms that include taking on labor unions and reducing regulations on businesses. He has had more success establishing his agenda on the foreign policy front, where Seoul has taken a harder line against North Korea and strengthened security cooperation with the United States and Japan.

Yoon cast his vote early Friday morning in Busan while on an official visit to the city.

Lee also voted early in the central city of Daejeon.

"In the end, it's up to the people to decide, and I would like to ask you to vote early today and tomorrow," Lee said. "If you give up your sovereignty, if you give up your vote, all that you give up goes to a few vested interests."

While South Korea's political landscape is dominated by the two main parties, a wild card this year is the rise of third parties in recent polls. The progressive Rebuilding Korea Party, led by disgraced former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, has emerged as the third most popular party and is drawing voters disillusioned with the status quo.

In the last Gallup Korea poll, the party -- which was only formed in February -- had 12% support, highlighting the possibility of gaining enough seats to play a spoiler role in the tightly contested parliament.