South Korea on track to shatter early voting record ahead of upcoming presidential election | Political Updates

South Korea is on track to break its early voting record with more than 12 million voters casting their ballots before the presidential election.
As of midday on Friday, this exceeds a quarter of the 44.3 million eligible voters in South Korea, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Early voting began on Thursday and will conclude on Friday, ahead of the official vote on Tuesday when South Koreans choose the successor to impeached President Yoon Sook-yeol.
Yoon’s decision to briefly impose martial law in December led to a political crisis in the country, which was overturned by the National Assembly.
The former president claimed this measure and the detention of opposition politicians were necessary due to the government’s alleged infiltration by anti-state and North Korean forces.
Yoon was impeached in December but remained in office until April when South Korea’s constitutional court finalized the impeachment vote.
The most recent poll shows the Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-myung leading with 42.9% support, followed by Kim Moon-soo from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party with 36.8%, according to Yonhap.
Conservative New Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok trails far behind with just 10.3% support.

The election is expected to bring an end to months of political unrest in South Korea, where the public is divided over the impeached Yoon.
South Korean authorities have reported an increase in vandalism of campaign materials and the arrest of at least 690 individuals related to these incidents, according to Yonhap.
Lee Jae-myung, the frontrunner, informed the media that he has been using a bulletproof vest and installed bulletproof glass at campaign events due to threats against his life.
Additionally, police have identified 11 cases of social media posts threatening Lee and one post threatening the New Reform Party’s candidate.