Seoul: The National Election Commission (NEC) of South Korea announced that overseas voting for the March 9 presidential election began on Wednesday for a six-day period.

The Election Commission announced that a total of 226,162 overseas South Korean citizens who are registered as absentee voters will be able to vote at 219 polling sites set up by 177 foreign missions in 115 countries between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day. However, due to the worsening security threat, voting will not take place at the South Korean Embassy in Ukraine. Sailors will vote aboard their ships from March 1-4, once overseas voting has ended.

On March 4-5, advance voting will be performed nationally for everyone who wants to vote early. The election on March 9 will be the eighth since the country's democratisation.

The President of South Korea is limited to a single five-year term in office by the South Korean Constitution, preventing incumbent President Moon Jae-in from seeking re-election. Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party and Yoon Suk-yeol of the opposition People Power Party are the two prominent contenders.

Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party, Sim Sang-jeung of the minor progressive Justice Party, Huh Kyung-young of the National Revolutionary Party, and Kim Dong-yeon of the New Wave are also running in the election.

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