ANKARA

South Korea's opposition bloc is striding to a thumping victory in the high-state parliamentary elections on Wednesday, eying more than a two-thirds majority in the parliament, exit polls showed.

Several exit polls showed that the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) is expected to sweep as many as more than 200 seats in the general elections, handing what would a crushing defeat to the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and President Yoon Suk Yeol, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

The results, if materialized, would give the opposition bloc more than a two-thirds majority in the 300-member National Assembly.

The number would be powerful enough to override presidential vetoes, revise the Constitution and impeach the president.

According to TV exit polls, the DP and its sister Democratic United Party would win 168-197 seats, while the PPP and its sister People Future Party were expected to win 85-111 seats.

Scandal-tainted former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's Rebuilding Korea Party, which also opposes Yoon, is projected to win 15 proportional seats.

Out of 300 seats, 254 will be selected through direct elections, while the remaining 46 proportional representation seats to be allocated to parties according to the number of votes they receive overall.

The exit polls are seen as a significant blow to President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose popularity has suffered from a cost-of-living crisis and a string of political scandals.

Official results are expected to be released in the early hours of Thursday.

The DP had 156 seats in the last parliament.

Highest turnout in 32 years

Voting began at 6:00 a.m. local time (2100GMT Tuesday) and ended at 6:00 p.m. local time (0900GMT) in 14,259 polling stations across the country, Seoul-based Yonhap news agency reported, citing the National Election Commission (NEC).

Around 27.4 million, or 61.8%, of the total 44.28 million eligible voters, cast their ballots as of 4:00 p.m., according to the NEC, including 14 million who had voted before election day.

The final voter turnout tentatively reached 67%, the highest in 32 years for general elections.

The voter turnout stood at 66.2% in 2020 general elections, whereas it logged 71.9% for the parliamentary elections in 1992.

More than 31% of eligible voters – 13.84 million out of over 44.28 million – voted during the two-day early voting period, which ended last Saturday.

It was the first time in the country's electoral history that early voting turnout exceeded 30%. In the 2020 election, the early voting turnout was 24.95%.

Yoon, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) chairman Lee Jae-myung, and former President Moon Jae-in had all voted last Friday.

Ruling party expresses disappointment

In an apparent sign of conceding defeat, the PPP leader Han Dong-hoon expressed disappointment over exit polls forecast.

"The People Power Party did its best to do politics that uphold the will of the people, but the exit poll results are disappointing," Han said after watching the results at the National Assembly with party members.

"We will watch the results of vote counting until the end," he said.