Overview

• Voting opened Thursday at 6 a.m. in 3,568 polling stations and by 4 p.m. turnout reached 15.72%, a 1.61-point rise from the same period in 2022.
• Lee Jae-myung cast his early vote in Sinchon, Seoul, reinforcing a 49.2% support level in the final Realmeter poll before the publication ban.
• Kim Moon-soo cast his ballot in Gyeyang District, Incheon, while Lee Jun-seok voted in Dongtan after their talks to merge campaigns collapsed.
• A blackout on new opinion polls took effect May 28 under election law, making current figures the last public gauge of voter sentiment ahead of June 3.
• The June 3 vote will determine South Korea’s direction on economic recovery, North Korea engagement and proposed constitutional reform.