Anchor: Voting to determine the 300 members of the 22nd National Assembly is under way at more than 14-thousand polling stations across the country. The winners of the 254 district seats and 46 proportional representation seats are expected to be announced by the National Election Commission(NEC) early on Thursday.
Emma Sparkes has more.

Report: Voting for the general elections to determine the occupants of the 300-member unicameral parliament, began at 6 a.m. on Wednesday at 14-thousand-259 polling stations across the country.

Voters in Seoul's Singil-dong expressed their hopes for improvement in Korean politics in the 22nd National Assembly which will begin its term late May.

[Sound bite: Ree Hyo-sook (66/housewife) (Korean-English)]
"I currently see a deep division in public opinion. I want to see (lawmakers) reaching an agreement and make the country more stable and stronger."

[Sound bite: Kim Chun Jo (82/retiree) (Korean-English)]
"I want them to stop talking about rightists or leftists. I want them to have healthier dialogues for the sake of the country."

Many winners of the 254 constituencies will likely be determined by 2 a.m. Thursday, a later time than previous elections due to an additional process requiring the manual verification of ballots. 

Official results based on ballot counting by the National Election Commission(NEC) will likely be confirmed later on Thursday.   

Results for the 46 proportional seats are expected to come out later than district votes as there are 38 parties on the list, some of which consist of new satellites of existing parties. 

A record 31-point-28 percent of voters cast their ballots for the general elections during the two-day early voting period last week. 

The elections are widely regarded as a referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is grappling with low approval ratings over soaring prices and his prolonged feud with doctors over the government’s medical reform measures.  
Emma Sparkes, KBS World Radio News.