South Korea’s early voting for the ninth nationwide local elections set a record turnout of 23.51 percent on Saturday. The National Election Commission announced that 10.49 million of the country’s 44.64 million eligible voters cast ballots over the two-day period. Furthermore, this figure easily surpassed the previous high of 20.62 percent from the 2022 elections. As a result, officials noted a sharp rise in civic engagement ahead of the main vote.
On Friday, the first day of early voting, turnout reached 11.6 percent and broke the prior first-day record of 10.18 percent. Meanwhile, the second day on Saturday added 11.91 percent, pushing the cumulative total to the new high. Consequently, the two-day tally delivered a record turnout that exceeded the old benchmark by 2.89 percentage points. Moreover, the strong participation spanned both urban and rural regions.
Regional turnout figures varied significantly across the country. For instance, South Jeolla Province led the nation with 38.95 percent, and North Jeolla Province followed with 35.05 percent. Gwangju and Sejong also posted elevated turnout of 27.83 percent and 27.67 percent, respectively. In contrast, Daegu recorded the lowest turnout at 18.65 percent, while Gyeonggi Province and Busan stood at 20.96 percent and 21.29 percent. Additionally, Incheon reached 21.62 percent, and Seoul registered 23.84 percent. Therefore, the geographic distribution reflected familiar patterns of political engagement.
The early voting system, introduced in 2014, has steadily drawn more participants in each cycle. However, the current record turnout signals unusually high interest in these local elections that will select governors, mayors, and councils. Looking ahead, election authorities expect robust overall turnout on the main voting day. The commission also confirmed that no major irregularities occurred during the early voting window. Ultimately, the record turnout may reshape expectations for the final results and future electoral participation trends.
