The 17th presidential election has begun at over 13-thousand polling stations nationwide.
Polling stations opened their doors at six a.m. and will close at six p.m.
Ballots will be counted from six-30 p.m. at 249 counting centers. Authorities will likely know the winner by around nine. They expect to finish counting by eleven.
Voters are choosing among ten presidential candidates. Although 12 had registered in November, two dropped out this month.
The National Election Commission (NEC) said voter turnout stood at 21-point-eight percent as of eleven a.m. That translates to eight-point-two million out of 37-point-seven million eligible voters.
The rate is lower than the 24-point-six percent recorded at the same time during the 2002 presidential election.
Election officials anticipated the final voter turnout at 65 percent. That's much lower than the 70 percent-plus recorded in the 2002 presidential election.
Jeju registered the highest turnout at over 27 percent, whereas Seoul's was the lowest at less than 19 percent.
Chung Dong-young 
The 17th presidential election has begun at over 13-thousand polling stations nationwide. 
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