my timesThe Korea Times
South Korea

Politics

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

From mishandling of ballots to last-minute Yoon-Ahn merger

Voters fill in ballots for Korea's presidential election in booths at a polling station in Hwagok-dong, Gangseo District, Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapNational Election Commission blamed for leaving room for dispute over election resultsBy Nam Hyun-wooIn the last stretch of the campaign period, criticisms on the National Election Commission (NEC) have overshadowed the election itself, as its improper handling of ballots filled out by COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine during the early voting session on Saturday triggered nationwide concerns that the election might be compromised. Though the NEC issued multiple statements officially apologizing and pledged to improve its election guidelines, the commission has yet to offer valid explanations about irregularities during the early voting period for COVID-19 patients.During the specified period, patients and people quarantining were given their ballots, which they filled in ― in separate polling booths ― and election workers collected their ballots in unofficial containers rather than inserting them into official voting boxes in front

Mar 9, 2022By Nam Hyun-woo
From mishandling of ballots to last-minute Yoon-Ahn merger
  • Envoys keep watchful eye on Korea's presidential election
  • What polls taken prior to election say

Minor progressive candidate pays tribute to late iconic leftist politician

Rep. Sim Sang-jung, the presidential candidate of the minor progressive Justice Party, pays tribute to the grave of former Rep. Roh Hoe-chan, the party's former head and an iconic leftist politician, at Moran Park in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, Election Day for the 20th presidential election. Courtesy of the Justice Party

Mar 9, 2022
Minor progressive candidate pays tribute to late iconic leftist politician

Undeterred by worst COVID-19 wave, voters turn out to choose Korea's next president

An election worker holds a ballot for the 2022 presidential election at a polling station in Jongno District, Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Lee Hyo-jin Election Day has arrived in Korea amid the nation's worst COVID-19 wave yet, with the country reporting an all-time high of 342,446 daily new infections for Tuesday. But the fear of infection did not stop Koreans from making their pick for who will lead the country for the next five years. While general voting began across 14,464 polling stations nationwide from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, alternative arrangements were put in place for COVID-19 patients allocating them a voting period from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.Dozens of residents showed up from the early morning to cast their ballots at a community center in Cheongunhyoja-dong, Jongno District in Seoul.Among the total 129,968 eligible voters in the district, 52,826 ― or 40 percent ― already voted during the two-day early voting period conducted last Friday and Saturday, marking the highest early voting turnout among the 25 districts in the capital, according to

Mar 9, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
  • First-time voters excited to cast their ballots, but concerned about caliber of candidates
  • What polls taken prior to election say
  • Exit polls project Lee, Yoon in dead heat
  • Yoon overtakes Lee to hold razor-thin lead

Envoys keep watchful eye on Korea's presidential election

gettyimagesbankBy Kwon Mee-yooWith Korea's presidential election held on Wednesday seeing a high turnout, foreign diplomats based in Seoul were carefully observing the atmosphere of the election and gathering information on how it developed. Most embassies were keeping tabs on support rates and pledges of the two main presidential candidates ― Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party ― to report to the governments of their respective countries. While embassies were tight-lipped on any expected results, they could see the democratic governance of the whole process.“The ongoing voting exercise in Korea is a manifestation of the vibrant democracy Koreans have fought long and hard for over many years. Whatever the results, it sends a signal that Korea is coming of age as a significant presence in the international arena," Ambassador of the Philippines to Korea Maria Theresa Dizon-De Vega told The Korea Times.Two frontrunners, Lee and Yoon, have some contrasting approaches in foreign policy.Lee has indicated th

Mar 9, 2022By Kwon Mee-yoo
Envoys keep watchful eye on Korea's presidential election
  • From mishandling of ballots to last-minute Yoon-Ahn merger

Political heavyweights, celebrities cast ballots

Kim Chong-in, a veteran economist and politician who helped both President Moon Jae-in and his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, win presidential elections, speaks during a lecture at a theater in Seoul's Mapo District in this Feb. 10 photo. Joint Press CorpsBy Jung Da-min Political heavyweights and celebrities showed up at polling stations to cast their votes.Kim Chong-in, a veteran economist who helped President Moon Jae-in and his predecessor Park Geun-hye in their presidential campaigns, voted at a polling station in central Seoul's Jongno District. “The high early voter turnout indicates high participation by active supporters of each candidate,” Kim told reporters, adding he had no idea who won in the early voting.“But the final election results will be different depending on the total turnout,” he said, without mentioning who he expects to win the race.Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, speaks while campaigning outside in Seoul's Mapo District, Tuesday. Joint Press CorpsYoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate

Mar 9, 2022
Political heavyweights, celebrities cast ballots
  • First-time voters excited to cast their ballots, but concerned about caliber of candidates
  • What polls taken prior to election say
  • Exit polls project Lee, Yoon in dead heat

What polls taken prior to election say

Young swing voters emerge; regional allegiances weakenBy Kang Seung-wooThe race to succeed President Moon Jae-in as Korea's next president was a closely fought contest in the polls taken more than a week before the election, with both Lee Jae-myung of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) having near-equal chances of winning the top job in government. Based on weekly surveys by Gallup Korea from January to the first week of March, the last day for publication of polls under the Election Law, the too-close-to-call showdown boiled down to several factors, including young swing voters' opinions and declining loyalty from parties' home turfs. The local pollster has been studying how public opinion trends on the candidates changed through polls conducted on a weekly basis since Nov. 18 and Yoon and Lee were running neck-and-neck in its last published poll, with approval ratings of 39 percent and 38 percent, respectively.In the lead-up to the election, younger people in their 20s and 30s, who make

Mar 9, 2022By Kang Seung-woo
What polls taken prior to election say
  • PHOTOS Nation goes to polls
  • Political heavyweights, celebrities cast ballots
  • Undeterred by worst COVID-19 wave, voters turn out to choose Korea's next president
  • From mishandling of ballots to last-minute Yoon-Ahn merger
  • Exit polls project Lee, Yoon in dead heat
  • Yoon overtakes Lee to hold razor-thin lead

First-time voters excited to cast their ballots, but concerned about caliber of candidates

Four high school students, who are all 18 years old, cast their ballots for the presidential election at a polling station in Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall, during the early voting period, March 4. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinOh Hae-eun, 18, a first-year university student, cast her ballot in the presidential election on Wednesday. It was her first time going to a polling station to vote. “Going to the polls always seemed like the distant future, but the day has finally come,” she told The Korea Times, adding that she was excited that her vote will be counted. “I feel a sense of responsibility taking part in the democratic decision-making process.”Oh is one of the 2.1 million young voters to cast their first ballots for the next president. The March 9 presidential election is the first to be held since the National Assembly passed a revision bill to the Public Official Election Act in December 2019, lowering the minimum voting age from 19 to 18.Due to the revision, over 490,000 voters aged 18 are allowed to join the country's voting population, reaching 44.2 million,

Mar 9, 2022By Lee Hae-rin
First-time voters excited to cast their ballots, but concerned about caliber of candidates
  • Political heavyweights, celebrities cast ballots
  • Undeterred by worst COVID-19 wave, voters turn out to choose Korea's next president

Voter turnout exceeds 60% as of 1 p.m.

A voter casts a ballot for the presidential election at a local polling station in Seoul, March 9. AP-Yonhap Voter turnout for the presidential election surpassed 60 percent as of 1 p.m. Wednesday, with the early voting tally incorporated, according to the country's election authorities. Out of the total 44.2 million eligible voters nationwide, 27 million, or 61.2 percent, have cast their ballots at 14,464 polling stations since the voting started at 6 a.m., the National Election Commission (NEC) said.The preliminary tally, which included the results of the two-day early voting, was higher than 55.5 percent reported at the same time in the previous presidential election in 2017. By region, Seoul recorded 60.6 percent, the surrounding Gyeonggi Province saw 59.5 percent and the western port city of Incheon, 58.4 percent.South Jeolla Province posted the highest rate of 70.7 percent, while the southeastern port city of Busan registered the lowest turnout at 58.2 percent

Mar 9, 2022
Voter turnout exceeds 60% as of 1 p.m.
  • Koreans cast votes to elect new leader

COVID-19 patients to sway presidential election

National Election Commission staffers conduct a final test on ballot counting machines ahead of the 20th presidential election, at a polling station set up at Seoul National University in Gwanak District, Tuesday. YonhapBy Jung Da-min COVID-19 patients' votes have risen as a variable in what is expected to be one of the closest presidential races in Korea's history. Concerns are rising over further problems anticipated in the election agency's handling of COVID-19 patients' ballots on Election Day Wednesday, as seen during the early voting period for those who tested positive for COVID-19 by March 4.Controversies have risen over the National Election Commission's (NEC) poor handling of early voting for COVID-19 patients, as conducted at separate polling booths in each polling station on March 5, the second day of the two-day early voting.Some COVID-19 patients who voted early saw their ballots being collected in paper bags, parcel boxes and even plastic trash bags by polling station workers, who were tasked with putting the ballots into official ballot boxes on behalf of the voters.

Mar 8, 2022
COVID-19 patients to sway presidential election
  • Koreans cast votes to elect new leader

Koreans cast votes to elect new leader

An official at the National Election Commission, unseen, holds a voting stamp at a polling station in Seoul, Tuesday, a day before the 20th presidential election. YonhapBy Nam Hyun-wooKorean voters head to the polls today to pick the country's new leader for the next five years.In what is believed to be the closest presidential race in Korea's history, the final voter turnout is expected to surpass 80 percent for the first time in 25 years. The turnout from the two-day early voting ― Friday to Saturday ― hit a record high of 36.93 percent.According to the National Election Commission (NEC), the total number of voters for the 20th presidential election is 44,197,692, including 226,162 who cast their ballots outside the country and 16,323,602 voters who filled in their ballots during the early voting. For the early voting, the NEC set up 3,562 polling stations across the country, and the eventual number will increase to 14,464 on Wednesday. Ballots collected from each polling station will be delivered to 251 counting places after voting booths close.The voting will begin at 6 a.m. and

Mar 8, 2022By Nam Hyun-woo
Koreans cast votes to elect new leader
  • Next president to write new chapter in history
  • COVID-19 patients to sway presidential election
  • PHOTOS Nation goes to polls
  • Voter turnout exceeds 60% as of 1 p.m.
previous page
605606607608609
next page

Most Read in South Korea