Millions of South Koreans are casting their votes in a snap presidential election triggered by the dramatic impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed attempt to impose martial law last December.
As of 11 a.m. local time, over 8.1 million people — just above 18% of the 44.39 million eligible voters — had already voted at more than 14,000 polling stations, according to the National Election Commission. Voter turnout is expected to be high, with polls open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. following an early voting period during which more than a third of voters had already cast their ballots.
The frontrunner is liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, who has framed the contest as “judgment day” for the ruling People Power Party, which he accuses of enabling Yoon’s authoritarian misstep. His conservative rival, Kim Moon-soo, a former labour minister in Yoon’s cabinet, is trailing behind amid lingering public anger over the December debacle that threw the country into months of political chaos and mass protests.
The political system and economic model that served us as a young democracy now hold us back, Lee said at a final rally in Seoul late Monday, vowing to prioritise equity and targeted support for lower- and middle-income families.
Kim, meanwhile, has promised to lift burdens on businesses and rein in labour unrest. He has accused Lee of being a “dictator in disguise,” warning that under his leadership, the Democratic Party would manipulate the law to serve its own interests.
Both candidates ended three weeks of intense campaigning with final pitches focused on restoring national unity and reinvigorating the economy, which has been hit hard by rising US tariffs and global uncertainty. But it is Yoon’s failed martial law bid — declared on 3 December and met with swift parliamentary and public backlash that continues to overshadow the policy debate.
The next president will inherit a polarised nation, fraught relations with an unpredictable United States under Donald Trump, and growing calls for democratic reform.
The election is widely seen as a defining moment for South Korea’s future political direction and democratic resilience in the aftermath of an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
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