South Koreans vote in local elections with 7,813 candidates on ballot

South Koreans began voting Wednesday in nationwide local elections that are being closely watched as a key test of public support for President Lee Jae Myung's administration after its first year in office.

Polling stations opened and voting kicked off at 6 am local time (2100GMT Tuesday), Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the National Election Commission.

Voting stations are scheduled to close at 6 pm (0900GMT) on Wednesday in the ninth nationwide polls, for a term of four years, since autonomy was restored to local governance units in 1995.

A total of 44.6 million voters are eligible to cast ballots in the elections, with more than 14,000 polling stations operating across the country. However, over 10 million people have already cast their ballots in early voting that concluded Saturday.

A non-Korean citizen registered in a relevant local constituency who has had a resident visa for at least three years has the right to vote in local elections. They cannot cast ballots in presidential and parliamentary polls.

Exit polls will be released immediately after voting ends, while the final results are expected overnight, with the winners likely to be confirmed in the early hours of Thursday.

Voters are electing some 4,227 officials, including 16 metropolitan and provincial governors, 227 mayors and county chiefs, 804 metropolitan council members, 2,650 local council representatives, 16 education superintendents and 14 lawmakers in parliamentary by-elections.

The local elections and parliamentary elections are held separately, with a two-year gap, to avoid overlapping of the two national events of public significance.

According to the National Election Commission, 7,813 candidates are contesting the elections across the country.

The vote follows a strong early voting turnout of 34.74%, the second-highest since the system was introduced in 2014.

Analysts view the elections as the first major public test for Lee's government since it took office in June last year.