By Lee Kyung-min and You Soo-sun
Hundreds of voters cast their ballots at Seoul and Yongsan train stations, Thursday, as part of a two-day early voting period ahead of the May 9 presidential election.
Seoul Station, the major transport hub in the country, is where one of more than 3,500 polling stations has been set up nationwide for early voting.
The National Election Commission (NEC) said the polling booths are available between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., to better accommodate the 42.4 million eligible voters who are unable to vote on May 9.
Some of voters set up tents near the polling stations to stay there overnight to be the first to cast their ballot.
At least six voters were among those who stayed up all night to line up even before the polling booths opened at 6 a.m. at Seoul Station.
An IT industry worker surnamed Seo, 33, said he voted for Hong Joon-pyo of the far-right Liberty Korea Party (LKP).
“Moon is pro-North Korea. The country is bound to self-destruct if a man holding such sympathetic views toward the North takes office,” he said.
Seo said his decision was affected by the intensifying threats from North Korea and his belief in protecting capitalism.
A woman surnamed Bae, a 25-year-old college student, voted for Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea, saying her decision was affected by the recent rallies over the Sewol ferry tragedy and the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.
“I voted for Moon because I believe a new administration should take over. Rather than considering campaign pledges each candidate rolled out, I chose the one I felt was most trustworthy,” she said.
Song Seong-sik, a 56-year-old male, voted for Cho Won-jin of the former ruling conservative Saenuri Party.
“I was planning on forgoing my vote altogether but changed my mind and voted for Cho mindful of the next presidential election five years from now. Impeaching Park Geun-hye was illegal, and Cho was one of the few that had the right mindset about rule of law that other candidates lacked,” he said.
“Politicians only care about their own interests, which in turn has broken people’s hearts.”
One senior couple walked out of the voting area together. The woman who appeared to be in her 70s said, “I just followed the main flow.”
Her husband commented, “Opinions among seniors are shifting toward Hong. He sounds smart, speaking like U.S. President Donald Trump.”
This is the first early voting for a presidential election since the system was introduced in 2013. The first time early voting was used was in a 2014 local election with an 11.5 percent turnout.
According to the NEC, 3,519,147 voters cast their ballots as of 3 p.m., with the turnout standing at 8.28 percent.
Meanwhile, according to the revised Election Law, on Election Day, voters will be allowed to share photos taken near polling stations online.
Earlier, making hand signs like a thumbs-up or V sign was banned as it could imply which candidate a person voted for.