South Korea local elections: 7.4% turnout by 9 a.m., Daegu leads

Voters across South Korea began casting their ballots on June 3 for the 9th simultaneous local elections and National Assembly by-elections. By 9 a.m., the national voter turnout had reached 7.4%, a notable increase from the 2.0% recorded at 7 a.m. This figure also surpasses the 6.0% turnout at the same hour during the 2022 local elections, indicating a potentially higher engagement this year.

The regional distribution of turnout shows significant variation. Daegu Metropolitan City and Gangwon Province are leading the nation with a 9.2% turnout each. In contrast, Gwangju Metropolitan City is reporting the lowest turnout so far, at 4.8%. Other major cities show turnouts close to the national average, with Seoul at 6.9%, Gyeonggi at 7.1%, and Busan at 7.3%.

A total of 3,320,829 voters have participated in the elections since polls opened at 6 a.m. The voting process is taking place across 14,288 polling stations nationwide and will continue until 6 p.m. Voters are reminded to bring a valid identification document to cast their ballot.