Voter turnout for S. Korea's 21st presidential election at 18.3% as of 11 AM

It's just past noon here in South Korea.

How many South Korean voters have already cast their ballots since polls opened?

We now connect with our Lee Eun-hee at the National Election Commission.

Hello there, Eun-hee.

Eun-hee, we're still early on election day, but how's the turnout looking this afternoon?

Well Yoo-jin, I'm at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon City, where officials are keeping track of the voter turnout.

It's been about 6 hours since the polls opened this morning at 6 AM.

Turnout at 12 PM is -point-percent, not including figures from early voting.

Early voting turnout will be reflected starting with the 1 PM update.

Figures by region are as of 11 AM.

Daegu, which had recorded the lowest early voter turnout, is now showing the highest turnout rate at 23-point-1 percent.

The lowest turnout is in Jeollanam-do Province, which showed the highest early voter turnout rate, at 12-point-5 percent.

Gwangju is at 13 percent, while the capital Seoul is seeing a turnout of 17-point-1 percent.

Incheon is at 18-point-1 percent, Busan at 17-point-7 percent and Daejeon stands at 19-point-4 percent.

Gyeonggi-do Province stands at 19 percent, while Jeollabuk-do Province is at 13-point-2 percent.

In terms of other provinces, turnout in Chungcheongbuk-do is 19-point-2 percent, Chungcheongnam-do 19-point-8 percent, Gyeongsangbuk-do 21-point-4 percent, and Gyeongsangnam-do 19-point-4 percent.

In this presidential election, early voting was held last week for two days recording a turnout of slightly over 34-percent, the second highest on record.

So far, the hourly voter turnout is slightly higher than in the 2022 presidential election, which ended with a final turnout of 77-point-1 percent.

Eun-hee, so the polls will close at 8 PM tonight.

That's when voting counting officially begins.

When will the results be known?

Yes, Yoo-jin.

Once the voting ends at 8 PM, the ballot boxes will be sealed and taken to counting centers under police escort.

Counting begins soon after and the National Election Commission expects counting to be finished by around 6:00 AM Wednesday morning.

The result should become clear by midnight, once 70 to 80 percent of votes are counted.

However, final results of course may take longer depending on voter turnout and how close the race is.

Once counting is done, the NEC will hold a full committee meeting in which the new president will be formally declared.

This meeting is expected to happen between 7 and 9 AM on Wednesday, and the process should only take 5 to 10 minutes.

The new president's term will immediately begin.

On Monday, Noh Tae-ak, Chairman of the National Election Commission, urged active voter participation, emphasizing the importance of creating a united South Korea through voting.

Noh assured the public that the NEC has prioritized transparency, highlighting measures such as 24-hour CCTV at early voting stations and a vote paper inspection system, both implemented in last year's general election.

Authorities are focusing on safety management as well.

The National Fire Agency has launched special emergency operations at over 15-thousand polling and counting stations nationwide, running until ballot counting ends.

Also this morning at 6 AM, police declared the highest level of emergency alert, mobilizing all available personnel.

This heightened readiness will continue until the new president's inauguration is complete and he arrives at his office on Wednesday.

Around 60-thousand officers are assigned to polling station security, 45-thousand to ballot transport and 7-thousand to counting center protection.

That's all I have for now, I'll be back with more updates later.

Back to you, Yoo-jin.

Please do Eun-hee.

That was our Lee Eun-hee from the National Election Commission.