Overseas Koreans' 5th Day Voting Rate at 56.0%... 'Already Breaking All-Time High Turnout Record'

The overseas voting for the 22nd National Assembly election is expected to record the highest turnout rate and the largest number of voters in history.

According to the National Election Commission on the 2nd, out of 147,989 people who applied for overseas voting, 82,915 cast their votes. This record is the highest among the overseas Korean voting records on the 5th day. The 21st general election recorded 21.4%, and the 20th general election recorded 34.4%. The final overseas Korean voter turnout rate, including votes cast on the last voting day, is scheduled to be announced that afternoon.

Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

An official from the Election Commission explained, "56.0% has already surpassed the highest overseas voting rate in past general elections, and votes from the last voting day will be added to this." The official added, "Overseas voting varies depending on the number of registered voters, and this time not only is the turnout rate high, but the number of voters is also the largest."

Typically, general election turnout rates have been lower than presidential election turnout rates, but there is interest in how high the turnout rate will be this time.

The overseas voting turnout rates for past presidential elections were 71.1% for the 18th, 75.3% for the 19th, and 71.6% for the 20th elections.