South Korea went to the polls for the presidential elections – Cyprus Newspaper

In South Korea, after the dismissal of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, the elections that will determine the new president are held today.

According to a statement from the National Election Commission, approximately 44 million registered voters in the country, voters from 06.00 local time in the election centers established in 14 thousand 295 ballot boxes began to vote.

Within 3 hours after the opening of the ballot boxes, 9.2 percent of the voters registered 4.09 million people reportedly voted.

15.4 million people, 34.74 percent of the voters in the country, benefited from early voting on May 29-30. This was the highest rate in the early voting application initiated for the first time in 2014.

5 candidates in the election, competing for the presidency. Lee Jae-Myung from the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and Kim Moon-Soo from the power party of the ruling people and the power of the ruling people stand out as the most powerful candidates.

Apart from Lee and Kim, Lee Jun-Seok of the new reform party, Kwon Young-Guk of the Democratic Labor Party, and independent Song Jin-Ho’s names are also on the ballot.

Democratic candidate Lee, the favorite of the election

In the election in 2022, Lee, who lost Yoon with a ratio of 0.7 percent, is expected to be likely to win this election.

Lee was taking the race ahead with a difference of 10 points from his closest opponent Kim with a vote of approximately 40 percent in the last election surveys.

Voting in the election will continue until 20.00 local time. Following the closure of the ballot boxes, the vote counting process will last until the next morning, but the informal result is expected to be determined towards midnight.

The official results will be announced after the meeting of the National Election Commission tomorrow morning.

Elections, the president of the state will be elected due to the dismissal of the president, without the transition process, will begin to work immediately after the oath ceremony to be held in the National Assembly tomorrow.

Yoon’s martial law declaration and dismissal process

On December 3, 2024, the president of the period Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on the grounds that the opposition was involved in anti -state activities, but had to take a step back with the abolition of the Assembly and the approval of the Council of Ministers.

Yoon, who was dismissed in his vote on 14 December 2024 by the National Assembly, was temporarily dismissed until the decision of the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court approved the dismissal of Yoon because of the declaration of martial law by accepting the national assembly’s dismissal request in his decision on 4 April after the proceedings.

The court decided to hold the early elections within 60 days to determine the new president, and the cabinet set the June 3 as the election date.