(3rd LD) S. Koreans vote in local by-elections

South Koreans voted Wednesday to elect the education chief of Seoul and four local government heads, with the result expected to serve as a litmus test of public sentiment since the April general elections. Up for grabs in Wednesday's by-elections are five local administrative seats -- the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, as well as the heads of Busan's Geumjeong District, Incheon's Ganghwa County, and the Yeonggwang and Gokseong counties in South Jeolla Province. Voting kicked off at 6 a.m. and is to run until 8 p.m. at 2,404 polling centers nationwide, according to the National Election Commission (NEC). Among the 8.64 million eligible voters, 775,971 already cast their ballots during the two-day early voting last week. Turnout of the advance voting came to 8.98 percent, the NEC said. The NEC said the overall turnout as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, including the figure from the advance voting, had been 18.96 percent. People stand in line to fill out ballots at a polling station at a high school in Yeonggwang County in South Jeolla Province on Oct. 16, 2024, as the by-election to elect the new county head begins. (Yonhap) People stand in line to fill out ballots at a polling station at a high school in Yeonggwang County in South Jeolla Province on Oct. 16, 2024, as the by-election to elect the new county head begins. (Yonhap) Former President Lee Myung-bak (R) casts his ballot at a polling station in Seoul on Oct. 16, 2024, as the by-election to elect a new superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education begins. (Yonhap) Former President Lee Myung-bak (R) casts his ballot at a polling station in Seoul on Oct. 16, 2024, as the by-election to elect a new superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education begins. (Yonhap) Observers say the election could put to test the leadership of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) chiefs, Han Dong-hoon and Lee Jae-myung, respectively, who are considered the next presidential cand idates. The outcome of the election could also shape the second half of President Yoon Suk Yeol's five-year term, as the opposition intensifies its political offensive against the PPP and the president, with some even raising the possibility of Yoon's impeachment. The PPP is looking for a sweep in its traditional home ground -- Busan's Geumjeong District and Incheon's Ganghwa County -- to recover from the declining approval ratings for Yoon and the ruling party after its crushing defeat in the April 10 parliamentary elections. In Geumjeong, PPP candidate Yoon Il-hyun runs neck and neck against DP candidate Kim Kyung-ji, after the DP and the minor Rebuilding Korea Party successfully unified their candidacies at the last minute. A loss on home turf for conservatives like Geumjeong could take a toll on the PPP and Han, who was elected as the party's new chief in July just three months after he resigned from the position to take responsibility for the April defeat. The DP is in a three-way battle with two mi nor parties in Yeonggwang County but believes it has a good shot at winning in Gokseong, and seeks to turn the tables against the PPP in Geumjeong District. Meanwhile, the by-election for Seoul's education chief takes place after left-leaning predecessor Cho Hee-yeon, who had served since 2014, received a suspended prison sentence in August for abuse of power and was stripped of his post. Three candidates are running for the post, but the race is expected to be a close two-way contest between Jung Keun-sik, a progressive honorary professor of sociology at Seoul National University, and Cho Jun-hyuk, a conservative former one-term lawmaker. Source: Yonhap News Agency