Polls suggest opposition landslide in S Korea's parliamentary election

Millions of South Koreans turned out to vote in crucial parliamentary elections, with an intense contest expected between the ruling party and the main opposition party, which currently controls the legislature, local media reported.

Initial exit polls suggested South Korea’s liberal opposition parties are expected to win a landslide victory in Wednesday’s parliamentary election.

The joint exit polls by South Korea’s three major TV stations – KBS, MBC and SBS – show the main opposition Democratic Party and its satellite party were fo recast to win combined 183-197 seats in the 300-member National Assembly.

The polls suggested the ruling People Power Party and its satellite party were projected to win 85-100 seats.

The predictions, if confirmed, would deal a massive blow to conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol and make him a lame duck for his remaining three years in office.

The vote is seen as a test of the Yoon administration, as the ruling party seeks to increase its representation in the 300-member parliament, where the opposition currently holds a majority.

Pre-election surveys indicated that the liberal opposition parties are well placed to maintain or boost their control of the single-chamber, 300-member National Assembly. But observers said that there's room for an upset as many districts were being closely fought and many moderate voters would make last-minute choices.

Voting began at 6 am local time Wednesday (2100GMT Tuesday) and will end at 6 pm (0900GMT) in 14,259 polling stations across the country, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported, citing the National Election Commission(NEC).

Around 25 million people, or 56.4 percent of eligible voters, had cast ballots as of 2 pm (0500GMT), with 14 million voting before election day, according to the NEC.

The turnout for the parliamentary elections in 2020 was 66.2 percent.

Following last week's early voting, over 30 million people are now eligible to vote in the general election. More than 31 percent of eligible voters -13.84 million out of over 44.28 million - voted during the two-day early voting period, which ended last Saturday.

It was the first time in the country's electoral history that early voting turnout exceeded 30 percent. In the 2020 election, the early voting turnout was 24.95 percent.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) chairman Lee Jae-myung, and former President Moon Jae-in had all voted early on Wednesday.

According to the election watchdog, approximately 3.07 million voters, or 6.9 percent, had cast ballots as of 9 am.

According to several polls, the opposition DP would win more seats than the PPP, with some suggesting that the entire opposition bloc could win more than 200 seats.