Voter turnout hits 51.9% as of 3 pm

Turnout in Wednesday's local elections reached 51.9 percent as of 3 p.m., already surpassing the final turnout of the previous local elections in 2022, the election watchdog said.

The National Election Commission (NEC) said 23.16 million out of 44.64 million eligible voters had cast their ballots, exceeding the 50.9 percent final turnout recorded in the local elections four years ago.

The latest turnout tally includes the 23.51 percent turnout from last week's two-day early voting period, which was also the highest on record.

South Jeolla Province in the country's southwest logged the highest turnout of over 60 percent, followed by the eastern province of Gangwon recording 57.2 percent and North Jeolla Province at 56.3 percent.

The southwestern city of Gwangju recorded the lowest turnout of 47.5 percent.

Seoul's turnout stood at 52.7 percent.

Voting will continue until 6 p.m.