Seoul, May (IANS) Overseas voting for the South Korean June 3 presidential election is set to kick off on Tuesday for a six-day run, the election watchdog said on Monday.
A total of 258,254 overseas South Korean nationals, including those registered as absentee voters, will be eligible to vote at 223 polling stations across 118 countries from Tuesday to next Wednesday, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).
Polling stations were set up in South Korean overseas missions in Cuba, Luxembourg, Lithuania, and Estonia for the first time, where diplomatic missions were recently established, Yonhap news agency reported.
Eligible voters unable to participate in the overseas voting or those wishing to cast their ballots in South Korea can do so on voting day if they report to regional election commissions between May 26-June 3, the NEC said.
Meanwhile, South Korean Presidential candidates ramped up their campaigns on Monday to woo swing voters in the key battleground of Seoul, with the election just 15 days away to pick a successor to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was ousted over his failed martial law bid.
Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung, the campaign’s front-runner, met elderly voters, while People Power Party (PPP) candidate Kim Moon-soo and Lee Jun-seok of the minor New Reform Party (NRP) joined a forum in Seoul.
Although the minor party’s Lee, who had served as a leader of the PPP, has ruled out merging his campaign with Kim, the forum drew attention as speculation persists over a potential merger of their candidacies to challenge the DP’s Lee.
Speaking to reporters after the forum, the NRP’s Lee said he is “not interested” in discussing a merger.
After attending the presidential candidates’ first televised debate the previous day, Kim said he remains open to a merger with the minor party’s Lee.
A Realmeter survey showed Monday that the DP’s Lee was leading Kim with 50.2 per cent support against Kim’s 35.6 per cent. The minor party’s Lee came in third with 8.7 per cent.
After meeting elderly voters, the DP’s Lee held a campaign rally at Yongsan Station and is set to head to the wards of Yeongdeungpo and Mapo.
–IANS
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