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Voters cast their ballots at an early voting station set up at the Sogong-dong Community Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on May 29, the first day of early voting for South Korea’s 21st presidential election. / Source: Park Sung-il

On May 29, the first day of early voting for South Korea’s 21st presidential election, the turnout reached a record-high 19.58 percent — the highest ever for the first day of early voting since the system was introduced in 2014.

According to the National Election Commission (NEC), 8,691,711 voters, or 19.58 percent of the total 44,391,871 eligible voters, cast their ballots between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on the day.

This marks a 2.01 percentage point increase from the first-day early voting turnout of the 20th presidential election in 2022, which stood at 17.57 percent. At that time, 7,767,735 voters participated on the first day.

Younger voters in their 20s and 30s and middle-aged voters in their 40s and 50s typically show higher participation in early voting, while voters aged 60 and older tend to prefer casting their ballots on the official election day.

If this trend continues, the final turnout for early voting, which runs through May 30, is expected to surpass the previous record of 36.93 percent set during the 20th presidential election.

Presidential candidates also took part in early voting, encouraging their supporters to turn out. Lee Jae-myung, candidate of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, cast his ballot at the Sinchon-dong Community Center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, accompanied by four young voters. Kwon Moon-soo, candidate of the ruling People Power Party, voted at the Gyeyang 1-dong Community Center in Incheon’s Gyeyang-gu with his daughter Kim Dong-joo.