The turnout rate reached a record high on the first day of the early voting for the South Korean presidential election

The presidential election of South Korea will be held on June 3rd. The two-day early voting officially kicked off at 6 a.m. on Thursday (May 29th), with voting hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. A total of 3,568 polling stations were set up across the country.

The Central Election Management Commission announced on the 29th that among the 44,391,871 registered voters across the country, 8,691,711 participated in the first day of voting, with a turnout rate of 19.58%, setting a new record for the first day of early voting in previous presidential elections.

Overseas South Korean citizens completed their voting from May 20th to 25th, with a turnout rate as high as 79.5%. Driven by high participation from abroad, the domestic voting atmosphere has continued to heat up. Public opinion is generally concerned about whether the final turnout of this general election can reach a new high.

The three main presidential candidates completed their voting one after another on the 29th and stepped up their campaign activities.

Lee Jae-myung, the candidate of the biggest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, called on young people to participate in politics after voting on Sinchon University Street in Seoul: "In order to restore the youthful vitality of South Korea, I hope this general election will become a new starting point for the country."

Kim Moon-soo, the candidate of the ruling People Power Party, chose to vote in Gyeongyang District, Incheon, the constituency of Lee Jae-myung, demonstrating his will to "reverse the situation and win". He said, "Early voting is also the key to achieving change. Please do cast your vote."

The candidate of the Reform New Party, Lee Jun-seok, voted in his parliamentary constituency of Dongtan, Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province, and stated that he would promote "political transition, generational transition, and era transition" to create another "Dongtan miracle".

On the same day, Seung-dong, the representative of the ruling People Power Party in the National Assembly, announced that the integration of candidates from the conservative camp had officially fallen through. He expressed respect for Lee Jun-seok's position of insisting on running independently, but expected to achieve "de facto integration" in the voting.

However, a statement made by Lee Jun-seok during the third TV debate on Tuesday (the 27th) has sparked huge controversy and is regarded as a "final variable" that may affect the election situation.

At that time, Lee Jun-seok asked during the questioning session, "If someone says something like 'wanting to insert chopsticks into the female genitalia' when talking about women, does it count as misogyny?" Although no names were named, public opinion generally interpreted it as an insinuating of the online sexual harassment controversy involving Lee Jae-myung's son in the past involving entertainers.

Lee Jun-seok later said that this question was intended to examine the controversy among Lee Jae-myeong's family and emphasize the fairness of the election. However, due to the intense wording and the explicit description involving women's bodies, the focus of the controversy quickly shifted to him himself. Women's groups and several civic organizations have publicly condemned him and demanded an apology for his inappropriate remarks.

Election observers pointed out that this move might backfire on Lee Jun-seok. His core support group is mainly composed of young voters, who are highly sensitive to public opinion, and the negative impact may spread rapidly in the short term.

Analysis suggests that this incident may become a key blow that shakes the course of middle voters and undecided voters, and will also dominate the election public opinion field in the coming days.