Overseas Voters’ Turnout

[Anchor Lead]

Some 220,000 overseas Koreans have cast their ballots to select the next president of South Korea, which is the highest turnout among absentee voters to date. This turnout reflects the high level of interest in the next Korean leader among Koreans residing abroad.

[Pkg]

Of 294,633 pre-registered voters from 204 polling booths in 116 countries, 221,981 voters cast their votes between April 25th and April 30th. It was the highest number of overseas votes thus far. The turnout rate recorded an all-time high of 75.3 percent. The number of overseas voters was up 40 percent from the number recorded during the previous election and three times as high as during the general elections held last year.

[Soundbite] Lee Seung-eun(Korean Citizen based in Moscow/Apr. 25) : "I feel proud to be voting in this election. I hope that the people of my country will choose the right president this time."

In some cities the turnout rates surpassed 80 percent~82 percent in Beijing and 84.2 percent in Sydney. The higher turnout rates are attributed to the high interest in the presidential election in the wake of the former president's impeachment as well as easy accessibility via the Internet and more polling stations.

[Soundbite] Cha Tae-wook(Central Election Management Committee) : "We expect the turnout rate to be even higher next week, on May 9, because of the high public interest in the election."

The ballot boxes will be sealed and transported to Korea. They will be opened on May 9th along with domestic ballot boxes.