Voter turnout tentatively tallied at 77.1 pct

Voter turnout for South Korea's presidential election was tentatively tallied at 77.1 percent Wednesday, as more than 34 million people went to the polls, according to election authorities.

Out of the total 44.2 million eligible voters nationwide, more than 34.07 million cast their ballots at 14,464 polling stations as of 7:30 p.m. when the voting closed, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).

The tally, which included the results of the two-day early voting, was slightly down from 77.2 percent recorded during the previous presidential election in 2017.

By region, Seoul recorded 77.9 percent, the surrounding province of Gyeonggi 76.7 percent and the western port city of Incheon 74.8 percent.

The southwestern city of Gwangju posted the highest rate of 81.5 percent, while the southern resort island of Jeju registered the lowest turnout of 72.6 percent.

More than 16 million, or 36.9 percent of the total, already cast their ballots in the early voting Friday and Saturday. (Yonhap)