Voter turnout in Wednesday's presidential election was 75.8%, the high interest Koreans have in the close race, according to the state election agency.
About 26.4 million out of a total 40.5 million eligible voters have cast their ballots since voting began at 6 a.m. at 13,542 polling stations nationwide, the National Election Commission (NEC) said.
The polls closed at 6 p.m.
The race has been a dead heat between Park Geun-hye of the conservative ruling Saenuri Party and her main opposition Democratic United Party rival Moon Jae-in.
Public interest is high for the election. Voters stood in long lines at polling stations despite a cold wave that pulled down temperatures to as low as 10.3 degrees Celsius below the freezing point in Seoul.
Election experts say voter turnout will affect the outcome of the polls as a higher turnout generally means more young voters participated. Moon is more popular among younger voters, while older voters are more supportive of Park.
An earlier poll announced by the state election watchdog showed close to 80 percent of the eligible voters said they would cast ballots this year. The total number of voters eligible to cast their ballots rose by 2.81 million from the 2007 presidential election. (Yonhap)