South Koreans went to the polls Tuesday to pick their new president, who will lead the country for the next five years. And voter turnout is likely to hit 80 percent when voting closes at 8 p.m., the election watchdog said.

“We are expecting the final turnout to be around or over 80 percent, with record-high turnouts from previous overseas and early voting,” an official from the National Election Commission told The Korea Herald. “Also, this year, the polls will be open two hours longer than the 2012 presidential election, to attract more voters.”

At 3 p.m., turnout had reached 63.7 percent, nine hours after polls opened, according to the National Election Commission.

The final figure will also include 26.06 percent from last week’s two-day early voting and last month’s overseas voting of 75.3 percent by South Korean nationals and those onboard ships.

In the 2012 presidential election, the final turnout stood at 75.8 percent.

This year’s earlier-than-planned election takes place 60 days after former President Park Geun-hye was ousted from office over corruption allegations.

The next president faces urgent issues such as the controversial deployment of a US missile defense system and political reforms.

Major candidates, including front-runner Moon Jae-ion of the Democratic Party of Korea, have all called for bipartisanship in state management, despite the apparent vast gulf among parties.

A total of 42.48 million people, or 82 percent of South Korea’s population, were eligible to vote in this year’s presidential election. Voting closes at 8 p.m. Wednesday. The results of Tuesday’s race will take shape at around 2-3 a.m. on Wednesday, some six hours after polls close, the commission said.

(sh@heraldcorp.com)