Turnout for the two-day early-voting period that wrapped up Saturday ahead of the parliamentary elections next week hit a record 31.28 percent, the election watchdog said.

A total of 13,849,043 out of 44,280,011 eligible voters cast their ballots at 3,565 polling stations during the early-voting period that ended at 6 p.m., according to tentative data from the National Election Commission. Those who missed the opportunity this weekend will have to vote on Election Day on Wednesday.

It marked the first time the early-voting turnout for general elections exceeded 30 percent since South Korea introduced the system in 2014. In the previous parliamentary elections in 2020, the turnout was 26.69 percent.

On Friday, about 6.9 million voters, or 15.61 percent, went to the polls, a record for the first day of early voting for parliamentary elections.

On the first day of early voting, turnout exceeded 10 percent in all 17 major cities and provinces nationwide, led by South Jeolla Province with 23.6 percent. The turnout in Seoul was 15.83 percent.

South Jeolla continued to lead the way on the second and final day of early voting with 41.19 percent. The southeastern city of Daegu brought up the rear at 25.6 percent. The turnout in Seoul reached 32.63 percent.

The quadrennial race is considered crucial for the ruling People Power Party as failure to regain a majority could potentially render President Yoon Suk Yeol a lame duck for the remaining three years of his single five-year term.

The main opposition Democratic Party, which enjoyed a landslide victory in the previous elections, aims to retain its parliamentary majority.

According to a survey conducted jointly by Yonhap News Agency and Yonhap News TV earlier this week, 80 percent of respondents expressed a definite intention to cast their votes.

Among those intending to vote, 39 percent planned to visit polling stations during the early-voting period, while 58 percent intended to vote on Election Day. (Yonhap)