Anchor: The first day of a two-day early voting period for the 21st presidential election ended with a record voter turn out across South Korea on Thursday. With Election Day approaching on Tuesday next week, presidential candidates cast their ballots and asked voters to do the same. The Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-myung urged everyone to send a clear message condemning the December 3 martial law incident. Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party said there’s no hope for the country unless voters cast their ballots to prevent Lee Jae-myung from becoming president.
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: Leading presidential candidates visited polling centers on Thursday and urged people to take part in early voting.

Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung made an appearance during the morning hours in the university district of Sinchon in Seoul, where he and three young voters cast their ballots simultaneously. 

Lee said he hoped everyone would participate in the vote and send a clear message of judgment against the martial law incident of last year.

[Sound bite: Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung (Korean-English)] 
“Voting is the surest way for citizens to exercise their sovereign power. They say the ballot is stronger than the bullet. The insurrection situation can be overcome only if people participate in voting. I decided to take part in this along with young people in the hope of seeing the nation once again led by the young, with the presidential election being the beginning of that.”

Meanwhile, Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party visited a polling station in Incheon’s Gyeyang District, where he and his daughter cast their ballots. 

While in Incheon, Kim visited Freedom Park, where a statue of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur is located, and urged voters to protect the nation’s hard-won liberal democracy from his Democratic Party rival. 

[Sound bite: People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo (Korean-English)] 
“Everyone should cast a ballot, either during the early voting period or on the day proper. Do you realize that if you don’t vote, there’s no hope for this country? Not just you, but your children, your neighbors and everyone you know should vote... Does freedom mean picking candidate No. 1 [Lee Jae-myung]? If you pick him, freedom will disappear.”
 
Minor Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok cast his ballot in his constituency in Dongtan in Gyeonggi Province. 

He called on his supporters to vote to usher in a new era of political and generational change.

Voting closed for the day at 6 p.m., having produced the highest turnout ever for the first day of advance polling with 19-point-58 percent percent of registered voters taking part. 

Polling stations will reopen at 6 a.m. Friday for another 12 hours of early voting before June 3.

Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.