Around 8 percent of South Korean voters turned out in Wednesday's parliamentary elections as of 9 a.m., the National Election Commission (NEC) said.

According to the commission, some 3.54 million completed voting, three hours after the polls opened at 14,330 polling stations nationwide in crucial elections that are seen as a referendum on President Moon Jae-in amid the country's fight against the new coronavirus.

The latest turnout tally does not include 26.69 percent who participated in last week's two-day early voting, as well as votes by overseas South Korean nationals and those aboard ships, the NEC said. Those numbers will be included in the turnout starting at 1 p.m.

The turnout rate is 0.9 percentage point higher than the 7.1 recorded at the same point in the last general elections in 2016.

A total of 44 million people are eligible to vote in the elections.

The voting is to end at 6 p.m.

People under self-quarantine due to the virus will be allowed to cast ballots after the regular voting ends, if they have no symptoms and have expressed a willingness to vote. (Yonhap)