Polls begin to select new South Korean president
March 9, 2022, 8:45 am

Polls begin to select new South Korean president

South Korea-Seoul/Pixabay

The Xinhua reported, polls began early Wednesday nationwide to pick South Korea's new president amid a neck-and-neck race between candidates of the ruling Democratic Party and the main conservative opposition People Power Party.

The election to select the next president will last from 6:00 a.m. local time (2100 GMT Tuesday) to 6:00 p.m. (0900 GMT Wednesday) at 14,464 polling stations across the country.

The voting was extended by one and a half hours to allow COVID-19 patients and those in self-quarantine to cast ballots separately.

The presidential race has been neck-and-neck as voters are obviously divided over the transfer of power.

Recent opinion polls showed approval ratings within a margin of error between Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party and Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party.

The Democratic Party supporters wished Lee inherit the current government of President Moon Jae-in.

A voter is to cast ballot for the presidential election at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, March 9, 2022 (File photo: James Lee/Xinhua)

Conservative voters supported Yoon for the transfer of the presidential power to the conservative bloc.

An early voting, which was adopted in 2013 and first applied to the 2014 local election, was carried out from March 4 to March 5.

Out of the 44,197,692 eligible voters, 16,323,602 people, or 36.93 percent of the total, cast preliminary votes.

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The early voting rate hit a record high, topping the previous presidential election's 26.06 percent.

Source: xinhua

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.