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Eligible voters hit Korea's ballot boxes early for June 3 local elections, nearly 20% turnout

Published: 30 May. 2026, 15:31

People cast their ballots at a polling station in Gangbuk District, northern Seoul, on May 30, the second and final day of early voting for the June 3 local elections. [YONHAP]

The early voting rate for Korea's ninth nationwide local elections reached 18.61 percent as of 2 p.m. Saturday, the second day of advance voting.

According to the National Election Commission on Saturday, 8,308,933 of the country's 44,649,908 eligible voters had cast ballots in early voting, which began at 6 a.m. Friday.

The figure was 2.24 percentage points higher than the 16.37 percent early voting rate recorded at the same time during the eighth local elections in 2022.

South Jeolla recorded the highest turnout so far at 32.69 percent, followed by North Jeolla at 28.97 percent, Gangwon at 22.21 percent and Gwangju at 22.10 percent.

Daegu posted the lowest turnout at 14.68 percent. It was followed by Gyeonggi at 16.30 percent, Busan at 16.87 percent and Incheon at 16.89 percent.

Seoul's turnout rate stood at 18.38 percent.

Early voting, which began at 6 a.m. Friday, continues through 6 p.m. Saturday.

Voters participating in early voting must bring identification and visit a designated polling station.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]