South Koreans cast vote amid coronavirus pandemic
Among first countries to conduct elections
South Korea is among the first countries to hold a national election since the global pandemic began.
Big turnout expected
The parliamentary poll, widely expected to bolster the ruling Democratic party's position, kicked off at 6:00 am with 43.9 million voters eligible to cast ballots.
Social distancing guidelines followed
Voters in obligatory masks lined up at least one metre (three feet) apart outside polling stations and had their temperatures checked before being allowed in.
Ample of facilities
All had to clean their hands with sanitiser and don plastic gloves, while those with fevers cast their ballots in separate booths that were disinfected after each use.
Among first nations to be infected
South Korea was among the first countries to be hit by the disease outside China, where the coronavirus first emerged.
For a time, the country had the world's second-largest outbreak, before it was largely brought under control through widespread testing and a contact-tracing drive, along with widely observed social distancing.
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