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.
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.Representation System(Elected Person) , the NEC, Retrieved on April 10, 2008
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.
Voting methods +Voting methods of South KoreaOfficeMethodsElectoral districtPresident of South Koreafirst-past-the-postNationalMember of the National Assemblyfirst-past-the-postConstituencies and Party ListMetropolitan Mayor/Governorfirst-past-the-postProvincesMember of the Metropolitan Councilfirst-past-the-postConstituencies and Party ListSuperintendent of Educationnon-partisan first-past-the-postProvincesMunicipal Mayorfirst-past-the-postMunicipal divisionsMember of the Municipal CouncilSingle non-transferable voteConstituencies and Party List Election technology
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.Tim Meisburger, Korean Elections: A Model of Best Practice, April 20, 2016.
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.National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea, Counting-Elections of the public offices
Korean elections have been praised as a model of best practice. However, the legality of the introduction of optical scan technology has been challenged and there have been allegations of rigged counting, mainly by conservative citizens and candidates.Kang Hyun-Kyung, Democracy Can Be Hacked Taking count of these concerns, the National Election Committee added the checking process by counting staffs from the 2024 South Korean legislative election.
Schedule
Election Position 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027Type Presidential (March) Local (June) None National Assembly (April) Presidential (June) Local (June) NonePresidentPresident None PresidentNoneNational AssemblyNone All seats None Provinces, cities and municipalitiesAll positions None All positions None
Inauguration Position 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027Type Presidential (May) Local (July) None National Assembly (May) Presidential (June) Local (July) NonePresidentMay 10 None June 4 None NoneNational AssemblyNone May 30 None Provinces, cities and municipalitiesJuly 1 None July 1 None
Latest elections
2024 legislative election
2025 presidential election
2022 local elections
Summary of past elections
Presidential elections
Legislative elections
Local elections 1995 South Korean local elections 1998 South Korean local elections 2002 South Korean local elections 2006 South Korean local elections 2010 South Korean local elections 2014 South Korean local elections 2018 South Korean local elections 2022 South Korean local elections
See also History of South Korea Constitution of South Korea Electoral calendar Electoral system
Notes
References
Further reading
External links National Election Commission of South Korea
Overview of candidates, parties and outcomes of South Korean elections since 1952 (with minor flaws like 이시영 missing in the 1952 page and wrong year of Park's resignation in the 1960 page)