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)
