South Korea's Early General Elections Commence: Immediate Inauguration of the New President Awaited
Today's the Day 🗓️ South Koreans hit the polls to elect their new president, following the flying dumpster fire that was Yoon Suk-yeol's brief-yet-disastrous state of emergency declaration. This political debacle polarized the nation, causing its worst crisis in democracy since... well, forever.
Polling stations opened at 6:00 AM local time in over 14,000 spots across the country, with voting set to end at 8:00 PM according to the National Election Commission. After three hours, turnout was at 9.2%, with around 4.09 million votes cast - an uptick compared to the same time in the 2022 elections, but still lagging behind the 2017 elections.
A whopping 44.4 million people are eligible to vote, including the 15.4 million who cast their ballots during early voting last week (a record since the system was introduced in 2014!). Once the votes are in, counting will begin immediately. The winner should (hopefully!) be known by midnight, with final results expected around 6:00 AM on Wednesday.
The Election Commission will then hold a meeting to confirm the results before the new president takes office. Kickback time, if you're lucky! 🥳
Six Months After the Chaos
The snap elections are happening exactly six months after that fateful day when Yoon Suk-yeol, in a classic power grab, declared a state of emergency. This move brought back painful memories of military regimes and sparked a massive political crisis in the country. The state of exception only lasted six hours, but it was enough to create a rift that's still clearly visible in the electorate.
Yoon was ultimately booted out of office on April 4 by the Constitutional Court, marking the second time in the history of South Korea's democracy that a president was unceremoniously shown the door.
His former party, the People Power Party (PPP), has reportedly urged supporters to back former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo - Yoon's political heir - despite Kim's vague stance on the cringe-worthy state of emergency. Hashtag "Don't fix what ain't broke," right, Kim? 🙄
Meanwhile, the main candidate of the opposition Democratic Party (DP), Lee Jae-myung, has made a point of advocating for punishing those responsible for the botched state of emergency. Given that the elections are happening during an interim government, the new president will take office immediately and begin erasing Yoon's mistakes ASAP.
There are five candidates in the presidential race, with Lee and Kim leading the pack with around 49% and 37% of the vote respectively.
Also running are Lee Jun-seok of the New Reform Party (NRP), Kwon Young-kook of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), and independent candidate Song Jin-ho. So, buckle up and make your vote count!
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- The state of emergency declaration by Yoon Suk-yeol, six months ago, sparked a political crisis in South Korea, reminiscent of past military regimes.
- The presidential race involves five candidates, with Lee Jae-myung and Kim Moon-soo leading, each advocating for different policies, including punishing those responsible for the state of emergency and erasing past mistakes.
- While the elections are happening during an interim government, the new president will begin implementing policy changes immediately after taking office.
- Apart from domestic issues, general news includes global topics such as war-and-conflicts, migration, crime-and-justice, and accidents, including a raid at a San Diego restaurant and political negotiations in the United States.
