South Korea will hold Parliamentary elections tomorrow for its 300-member National Assembly. The National Election Commission has said that early voting shows that 31.28 per cent of the 44.28 million eligible voters cast their votes on Friday and Saturday, with no previous early voting period in South Korea reaching the 30 per cent threshold. The remaining voters will vote tomorrow.
The election comes nearly two years after conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol won the 2022 presidential election defeating Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party by just 0.73 per cent – the slimmest margin in South Korean history.
South Korea has a powerful presidential system, checked and balanced by the assembly which can pass or stop bills. Yoon has a separate five-year term and is not up for election this time, but the vote is seen as a referendum on the president and his bitter rival Lee.
The parliament is currently dominated by the DP which holds 142 out of 297 seats, and allies with smaller opposition parties to hold the majority.
The two major parties have said dozens of regions are too close to call and new polls are prohibited in South Korea in the last six days before the election.
