[Photo News] Election Day scenes in S. Korea

South Koreans across the country headed to the polls Wednesday morning in nationwide local elections, results of which could determine how much momentum the newly launched Yoon Suk-yeol administration will have in pushing its agendas.

The voting booths opened at 6 a.m. across the country, with 17 leadership positions at metropolitan or provincial levels, 226 heads of lower-level administrative levels at stake. The elections will also pick the seats at metropolitan, provincial and lower-level regional councils and local education chiefs.

In seven constituencies in Daegu, Incheon, Seongnam, Wonju, Boryeong, Changwon and Jeju, parliamentary by-elections are also taking place.

Here’s a look at the Election Day scenes across the country. 

Yu Bok-yeop (second from right), a chief educator of Yangji Seodang, an education facility of Korean traditional culture and etiquette, votes with his family members at a polling booth set up at an elementary school in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, at Wednesday’s local elections. (Yonhap)

 

A child looks on as her father prepares to vote at a polling booth in Busan during Wednesday’s local elections. (Yonhap)

Two voters show election stamps on their hands outside a polling station in Seoul’s Seocho district on Wednesday. The display of election ink smudged on a hand is the most popular type of “voting proof shots” which inundate social media whenever there is an election in South Korea.(Yonhap)

Barbeque grills are seen inside a polling booth set up at a restaurant in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, for Wednesday’s local elections. (Yonhap)

A man in a wheelchair is preparing to vote at a polling booth in Seoul during Wednesday’s local elections. (Yonhap)

Voters line up outside a polling location in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday morning. (Yonhap)

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)