ELECTION Voter turnout hits 79.4%, highest in 28 years

People line up to cast their votes at a polling station in Busan, Tuesday. Yonhap

Final voter turnout for Tuesday’s presidential election reached 79.4 percent, according to the National Election Commission — the highest in 28 years, signaling heightened public engagement amid political upheaval.

The figure is also more than 2 percentage points higher than the turnout in the 2017 (77.2 percent) and 2022 (77.1 percent) presidential elections.

Out of 44.3 million eligible voters, 35.2 million cast their ballots, including early voting on Thursday and Friday, along with overseas, shipboard and absentee voting. The number of participants exceeded that of the previous presidential election by approximately 1.1 million.

Regional turnout varied sharply. In many traditional Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) strongholds, turnout was especially strong. Gwangju led the nation with an 83.9 percent turnout, followed closely by South Jeolla Province at 83.6 percent and North Jeolla Province at 82.5 percent.

In contrast, Jeju reported the lowest combined turnout at 74.6 percent, followed by South Chungcheong Province at 76 percent and North Chungcheong Province at 77.3 percent.

Bastions of People Power Party (PPP) support, North Gyeongsang and South Gyeongsang provinces, recorded 78.9 percent and 78.5 percent, respectively. Ulsan and Daegu recorded the highest among the conservative circles, recording 80.1 percent and 80.2 percent turnout, respectively. Busan recorded the lowest of 78.4 percent.

In the capital region, often seen as decisive in close elections, turnout stood at 80.1 percent in Seoul, 77.7 percent in Incheon and 79.4 percent in Gyeonggi Province.

The early presidential election has drawn particular attention, taking place in the wake of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration on Dec. 3 and his subsequent impeachment.

Amid tensions between the DPK and the PPP — each framing the election as a chance to “judge the insurrection” or “stop the dictatorship” — expectations grew that voter turnout could surpass 80 percent for the first time since 1997. Both parties have claimed that high turnout would benefit their campaigns.

Since the introduction of direct presidential elections in Korea, the only race to cross the 80 percent threshold was the 1997 election, when former President Kim Dae-jung was elected with 80.7 percent turnout.

The following election, which brought former President Roh Moo-hyun to power, saw turnout fall to 70.8 percent. The election won by former President Lee Myung-bak had the lowest turnout to date at 63.0 percent.

The next election, won by former President Park Geun-hye, and the following two elections, won by former Presidents Moon Jae-in and Yoon Suk Yeol, respectively, all recorded turnout above 75 percent, but none surpassed the 80 percent mark.

Reflecting strong public interest, early voting turnout reached 34.74 percent — the second-highest figure since the early voting system was introduced in 2014.

Regional contrasts were stark as well. In Gwangju and Jeolla Province, nearly 50 percent of voters cast their ballots early. In contrast, turnout in Daegu and North and South Gyeongsang Provinces was roughly half that level.

Unlike regular presidential elections, which allow 12 hours of voting from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., this by-election extended polling to 14 hours, remaining open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., offering voters more flexibility during this extraordinary political moment.