Residents suffer from insomnia, stress as protests continue day and night

Voter turnout for South Korea's local elections stood at 50 percent as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, as polls closed nationwide for ordinary voters, according to the country's election authorities. This is 10.2 percent points lower than the level recorded at the same time in the previous local elections in 2018. Voting by COVID-19 positive voters and those in quarantine commenced at 6:30 p.m. and will l...

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 l...

The winners of Wednesday’s local elections will likely emerge around midnight, some four hours after the polls close, according to the National Election Commission. The vote count begins at around 8 p.m. after ballot boxes are moved to the local election commissions’ ballot counting stations across the country. One hour later, the vote count is expected to start being revealed to the public in ...

South Koreans voted Wednesday to elect mayors, governors, local council members and regional education chiefs in nationwide local elections that could determine whether the newly inaugurated government of President Yoon Suk-yeol can powerfully push its agenda in its first years. Up for grabs in this year‘s local elections are 17 metropolitan mayoralties and provincial governorships, 226 lower-le...

Wednesday’s vote come down to local governance and education, but its outcome is likely to impact rival parties’ standing in years to come

The 2022 local elections are upon us. Here’s a quick look at the vote by key numbers. 2.2 percent This is the first local election in which 18-year-olds can cast ballots. They already hit the polls during the presidential election in March after the voting age was lowered from 19 to 18 in late 2019. The number of 18- and 19-year-old voters stands at 973,335, or 2.2 percent of the country‘s 44....

Presidential office says system to investigate corruption of public officials under review

Ruling party goes to Gyeonggi Province while main opposition party finishes in Seoul

The rival parties made last-ditch efforts Tuesday to woo undecided voters on the eve of nationwide local elections amid expectations the results will boost or weaken the mandate of the new government of President Yoon Suk-yeol. Up for grabs in Wednesday's elections are 17 metropolitan mayors and provincial governors, 226 lower-level council heads, as well as 779 seats in provincial and metropoli...

Lee Jae-myung looks to win votes by promising regulatory relief if airport is gone

President Yoon Suk-yeol will not appoint a special inspector charged with investigating corruption among the president's family members and senior aides in line with his commitment to giving all investigations to the prosecution and police, an official said Monday. The office of the special inspector was established under then President Park Geun-hye in 2014 to conduct investigations into allege...

The Cabinet on Monday approved a 62 trillion-won ($49.4 billion) extra budget aimed mainly at helping small merchants affected by the pandemic. The spending plan was passed at an extraordinary Cabinet session presided over by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. The National Assembly passed the extra budget bill Sunday, just three days before the local elections. The bill was approved in a plenary ses...

Kim Tae-heum, the ruling People Power Party’s candidate for the South Chungcheong gubernatorial election, pledged to end the main opposition party’s 12-year reign in South Chungcheong Province. “I will make South Chungcheong Province free of the arrogance, incapability and immorality that the Democratic Party has shown over the last 12 years,” Kim said in an email interview with The Korea Herald...

Yang Seung-jo, the Democratic Party’s candidate for the South Chungcheong gubernatorial election, said he aims to win a second term in the upcoming local election to complete what he started for the province’s more robust and balanced economic development. “South Chungcheong Province needs a governor with capability and experience for the region’s development without discontinuity,” Yang said, e...