Overseas voting begins in presidential election

A voter casts her ballot at a polling station set up at the Korean Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, May 20. Yonhap

Korean nationals living or staying abroad went to the polls Tuesday to pick a new president as overseas voting began ahead of the June 3 election, according to embassy officials.

The out-of-country voting will run for six days, with more than 258,000 Korean nationals, including those registered as absentee voters, eligible to vote at 223 polling stations across 118 countries.

In Japan, some 38,000 out of 411,000 Korean nationals aged 18 or over with voting rights registered to vote, the Korean Embassy in Tokyo said.

Polling stations have been set up in Tokyo and other major cities like Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Sapporo, Sendai and Fukuoka.

Park Cheol-hee, Korea's ambassador to Japan, was among those who cast their ballots earlier in the day.

"It's very important for overseas Koreans to exercise their right to vote for the progress of Korea," Park told reporters after voting. "I'd like to encourage as many people as possible to visit the polling stations, even if they're busy."

Ten polling stations have been set up in China, including the Korean Embassy in Beijing and the consulates general in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Xian, Wuhan, Chengdu, Qingdao and Hong Kong, as well as the consular office in Dalian.

Of the 4,218 registered voters, 250 nationals came to cast their ballots during the day, an embassy official in Beijing said.

The first voter was a university student in New Zealand, the Korean Embassy in Wellington said.