South Korea Local Elections See Highest Turnout Since 1995

Turnout in the local elections was tentatively tallied at 61 percent, the election watchdog said Thursday, the highest rate since the first nationwide local elections in 1995.

According to the National Election Commission (NEC), nearly 27.25 million out of 44.64 million eligible voters had cast their ballots in Wednesday's local elections. The final tally was still undetermined six hours after polls closed as a shortage of ballots at 14 voting stations in Seoul had pushed back the end of voting hours at some stations.

The 61 percent turnout is less than the 68.4 percent turnout in the 1995 elections but higher than the 60.2 percent recorded in the 2018 polls, the second highest prior to Wednesday's vote.

In the previous local elections in 2022, the final turnout was 50.9 percent.