Voter turnout stands at 6.9 percent as of 9 a.m.

Around 6.9 percent of South Korean voters had turned out in Wednesday's parliamentary elections as of 9 a.m., the election watchdog said. The National Election Commission (NEC) said some 3.07 million out of an eligible 44.28 million voters had cast their ballots three hours after the polls opened at polling stations nationwide in crucial elections that are seen as a referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol. At the same point during the previous parliamentary elections in 2020, the turnout was 8 percent. The latest turnout tally is the lowest since 1996, when the NEC began posting the hourly voter turnout rate. The previous low was 7.1 percent recorded in the 20th elections in 2016. The tally does not include the 31.28 percent who participated in last week's two-day early voting, as well as votes by overseas South Korean nationals and those aboard ships, the NEC said. Those numbers will be included in the turnout starting at 1 p.m. Voting is set to end at 6 p.m. As of 9 a.m., South Chungcheong Province rep orted the highest voter turnout at 8 percent, followed by South Gyeongsang Province, the central city of Daejeon, the southern resort island of Jeju and North Gyeongsang Province. The southwestern city of Gwangju had the lowest voter turnout at 5.6 percent. Source: Yonhap News Agency