Elections in South Korea

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Elections in South Korea are held on a national level to select the President and the National Assembly. Local elections are held every four years to elect governors, metropolitan mayors, municipal mayors, and provincial and municipal legislatures.

Contents

The president is directly elected for a single five-year term by plurality vote. The National Assembly has 300 members elected for a four-year term, 253 in single-seat constituencies and 47 members by proportional representation. Each individual party willing to represent its policies in the National Assembly is qualified on the legislative (general) election if: i) the national party-vote reaches over 3% on proportional contest or ii) more than 5 members of the party are elected from each of their first-past-the-post election constituencies. [1]

Voting

Eligibility

All citizens over the age of 18 have the right to vote. According to Article 34 of the 'Immigration Control Act,' a non-Korean citizen registered in the relevant local constituency and who has had a resident visa for at least three years has the right to vote in local elections. [2]

Voting methods

Voting methods of South Korea [3] [4]
OfficeMethodsElectoral district
President of South Korea first-past-the-post National
Member of the National Assembly first-past-the-post Constituencies and Party List
Metropolitan Mayor/Governor first-past-the-post Provinces
Member of the Metropolitan Council first-past-the-post Constituencies and Party List
Superintendent of Education non-partisan first-past-the-post Provinces
Municipal Mayor first-past-the-post Municipal divisions
Member of the Municipal Council Single non-transferable vote Constituencies and Party List

Election technology

South Korean ballots from 2010. Korean 5th local election ballot paper - Muju na.jpg
South Korean ballots from 2010.

Polling places are usually located in schools. During the absentee or early voting period, voters can vote at any place in the country. On election day, voters may only vote at polling places in their registered constituency. Korean voters mark paper ballots with a rubber stamp using red ink. There is one race per ballot paper; if there are multiple offices up for election, ballot papers are colour-coded and voters are issued one ballot per race. [5]

Polling booth, used in 2025 Presidential Election. daehanmingug 21dae daetongryeongseongeo gipyoso 1.jpeg
Polling booth, used in 2025 Presidential Election.

Korea uses a central count model. After the polls close, ballot boxes are sealed and transported to the constituency's counting centre. Traditionally ballots were hand-counted, and optical scanners have been adopted since 3rd local elections held on 13 June 2002. The scanners resemble cash sorter machines, sorting the ballots into stacks by how they are voted. Stacks are then counted using machines resembling currency counting machines. [6]

Korean elections have been praised as a model of best practice. [5] However, the legality of the introduction of optical scan technology has been challenged and there have been allegations of rigged counting. [6]

Schedule

Election

Position202220232024202520262027
Type Presidential (March)
Local (June)
None National Assembly (April) Presidential (June) Local (June)None
PresidentPresidentNonePresidentNone
National AssemblyNoneAll seatsNone
Provinces, cities and municipalitiesAll positionsNoneAll positionsNone

Inauguration

Position202220232024202520262027
TypePresidential (May)
Local (July)
NoneNational Assembly (May)Presidential (June)Local (July)None
PresidentMay 10NoneJune 4NoneNone
National AssemblyNoneMay 30None
Provinces, cities and municipalitiesJuly 1NoneJuly 1None

Latest elections

2024 legislative election

South Korea 22nd National Assembly 2024.svg
Party or allianceProportionalConstituencyTotal
seats
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
People Power Party / People Future Party 10,395,26436.671813,179,76945.0890108
Democratic Alliance Democratic Party 7,567,45926.70814,758,08350.48161169
Progressive Party 2302,9251.0413
New Progressive Alliance [a] 214,2710.0502
Independents22
Total1415,075,27951.57162176
Rebuilding Korea Party 6,874,27824.251212
New Reform Party 1,025,7753.622195,1470.6713
Liberal Unification Party 642,4332.27018,7000.0600
GreenJustice Party 609,3132.150107,0290.3700
New Future Party 483,8271.710200,5020.6911
Pine Tree Party 124,3690.44018,9390.0600
Grand National Party  [ ko ]72,9250.2600
National Revolutionary Party 67,4200.2400
Saenuri Party 57,2100.2000
Freedom and Democracy Party  [ ko ]39,9770.1401,2450.0000
Christian Party  [ ko ]36,1170.1302180.0000
Grand National Unity Party 30,3230.1100
Our Republican Party 29,8950.11012,8140.0400
Great Korea Party  [ ko ]29,4810.1000
Women's Party 28,9420.1000
Hashtag People's Policy Party  [ ko ]26,9060.0900
Labor Party 25,9370.0907,4650.0300
Financial Reform Party  [ ko ]20,5480.0700
Senior Welfare Party  [ ko ]15,1780.0500
Republican Party  [ ko ]14,9120.0500
Hongik Party  [ ko ]13,3260.0500
Korea Farmers and Fishermen's Party  [ ko ]13,0350.0502,8040.0100
Korea People's Party  [ ko ]11,9470.040850.0000
Mirae Party 11,5050.0400
New National Participation Party 10,2420.0400
To Tomorrow, to the Future  [ ko ]9,4170.0301,3330.0000
Republic of Korea Party  [ ko ]8,5270.0300
Unification Korea Party  [ ko ]8,5180.0300
Let's Go Korea  [ ko ]7,8200.0300
Popular Democratic Party  [ ko ]7,6630.0300
Gihuminsaeng Party 6,6150.0207780.0000
Party for the Abolition of Special Privileges  [ ko ]4,7070.020540.0000
Korean Wave Union Party  [ ko ]3,8940.0100
Korea Business Party  [ ko ]3,7830.0100
K Political Innovation Union Party  [ ko ]3,4510.0100
New Korean Peninsula Party  [ ko ]1,5800.0100
Korean National Party  [ ko ]1,9170.0100
People's Democracy Party 2900.0000
Independents409,7611.4000
Total28,344,519100.004629,234,129100.00254300

2025 presidential election

CandidatePartyVotes%
Lee Jae Myung Democratic Party 17,287,51349.42
Kim Moon-soo People Power Party 14,395,63941.15
Lee Jun-seok Reform Party 2,917,5238.34
Kwon Yeong-guk Democratic Labor Party 344,1500.98
Song Jin-hoIndependent35,7910.10
Total34,980,616100.00
Valid votes34,980,61699.27
Invalid/blank votes255,8810.73
Total votes35,236,497100.00
Registered voters/turnout44,391,87179.38
Source: National Election Commission

By region

2025 Republic of Korea Presidential Election, Lee Jae-myung vote strength.svg
2025 Republic of Korea Presidential Election, Kim Moon-soo vote strength.svg
2025 Republic of Korea Presidential Election, Lee Jun-seok vote strength.svg

Vote share by municipalities and provinces (inset)

Major candidates

Breakdown of votes by region for candidates with at least 1% of the total votes.

Region Lee Jae Myung Kim Moon-soo Lee Jun-seok
Votes%Votes%Votes%
Seoul 3,105,45947.12,738,40541.6655,3469.9
Busan 895,21340.11,146,23851.4168,4737.6
Daegu 379,13023.21,103,91367.6135,3768.3
Incheon 1,044,29551.7776,95238.4176,7398.7
Gwangju 844,68284.879,9378.062,1046.2
Daejeon 470,32148.5393,54940.694,7249.8
Ulsan 315,82042.5353,18047.663,1778.5
Sejong 140,62055.683,96533.225,0049.9
Gyeonggi 4,821,14852.23,504,62038.0816,4358.8
Gangwon 449,16144.0483,36047.378,7047.7
North Chungcheong 501,99047.5457,06543.286,9848.2
South Chungcheong 661,31647.7600,10843.3111,0928.0
North Jeolla 1,023,27282.7134,99610.967,9615.5
South Jeolla 1,111,94185.9110,6248.560,8224.7
North Gyeongsang 442,68325.51,159,59466.9116,0946.7
South Gyeongsang 851,73339.41,123,84352.0161,5797.5
Jeju 228,72954.8145,29034.836,9098.8
Total17,287,51349.414,395,63941.22,917,5238.3
Source: National Election Commission

Minor candidates

Breakdown of votes by region for candidates with less than 1% of the total votes.

Region Kwon
Yeong-guk
Song
Jin-ho
Votes%Votes%
Seoul 83,9001.35,9980.1
Busan 18,1890.82,0990.1
Daegu 12,5310.81,3620.1
Incheon 20,7431.02,0980.1
Gwangju 8,7670.99340.1
Daejeon 9,9051.01,1090.1
Ulsan 9,2991.38990.1
Sejong 2,9611.22350.1
Gyeonggi 84,0740.98,3560.1
Gangwon 9,4220.91,1370.1
North Chungcheong 10,1691.01,2280.1
South Chungcheong 12,8930.91,5190.1
North Jeolla 10,0610.81,7190.1
South Jeolla 9,3520.72,1040.2
North Gyeongsang 13,8840.81,7880.1
South Gyeongsang 21,8091.02,6780.1
Jeju 6,1911.55280.1
Total344,1501.035,7910.1
Source: National Election Commission

2022 local elections

2022 South Korean local elections
Flag of South Korea.svg
  2018 1 June 20222026 

All 17 metropolitan mayors and governors
All 226 municipal mayors
All 824 seats for provincial and metropolitan councillors
All 2926 seats for municipal councillors
Turnout50.9% Decrease2.svg 9.3 pp
 First partySecond party
  Lee Jun-seok, Leader of the People's Power, attended a campaign hosted by chungnam Province Chapter at the Sinbu Cultural Park in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do on July 2, 2021 (3).jpg yunhojung.jpg minjudang jeongugyeoseongwiweonhoe, beulruseutateuporeom baljogsig 2 (cropped).jpg
Leader Lee Jun-seok Yun Ho-jung
& Park Ji-hyun
Party People Power Democratic
Regional
offices
5 governors
7 met. mayors
4 governors
1 met. mayor
Regional
offices +/–
Increase2.svg 4 governors
Increase2.svg 6 met. mayors
Decrease2.svg3 governors
Decrease2.svg 6 met. mayors
Mayors14563
Mayors +/–Increase2.svg 92Decrease2.svg 88
Councillors540 (P)
1,435 (M)
322 (P)
1,384 (M)
Councillors +/–Increase2.svg 403 (P)
Increase2.svg 426 (M)
Decrease2.svg 330 (P)
Decrease2.svg 255 (M)

 Third partyFourth party
  Yeo Yeong-gug in 2021.jpg
Leader Kim Jae-yeon Yeo Yeong-gug
Party Progressive Justice
Regional
offices
0 governor
0 met. mayor
0 governor
0 met. mayor
Regional
offices +/–
Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg0
Mayors10
Mayors +/–Increase2.svg1Steady2.svg0
Councillors3 (P)
17 (M)
2 (P)
7 (M)
Councillors +/–Increase2.svg 3 (P)
Increase2.svg 6 (M)
Decrease2.svg 9 (P)
Decrease2.svg 19 (M)

2022 Republic of Korea metropolitan mayoral and gubernatorial elections.svg
2022 Republic of Korea metropolitan mayoral and gubernatorial elections, municipal-level divisions.svg

Summary of past elections

Presidential elections

Legislative elections

Local elections

See also

Notes

References

  1. Representation System(Elected Person) Archived April 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , the NEC, Retrieved on April 10, 2008
  2. "Right to Vote and Eligibility for Election". National Election Commission (South Korea) . Archived from the original on August 12, 2021.
  3. "Election Districts and Representation System". National Election Commission (South Korea) . Archived from the original on August 12, 2021.
  4. "Local Council Elections". [[National Election Commission (South Korea). Archived from the original on August 12, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Tim Meisburger, Korean Elections: A Model of Best Practice, April 20, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Oglim, The South Korean 2012 Presidential Election was Fraudulent, Feb. 21, 2013. (archived version.)

Further reading