Seoul: More than 44.6 million people will be eligible to vote in the upcoming June 3 local elections, up more than 340,000 from the previous elections in 2022, the interior ministry said Saturday. The nationwide elections will be held to choose mayors and governors of 16 metropolitan cities and provinces, along with education superintendents and chiefs of smaller administrative units.

According to Yonhap News Agency, of the 44,649,908 eligible voters, approximately 44.4 million are South Koreans residing in the country, while 89,151 are overseas residents and 151,532 are foreigners. The number of voters with foreign nationality has multiplied by 3.13 times since the 2014 local elections, where their number was 48,248.

By age group, those in their 50s accounted for the largest number at more than 8.63 million, or 19.34 percent of the total. By region, Gyeonggi Province had the most voters with 11.9 million (26.6 percent), followed by Seoul with 8.3 million (18.63 percent) and Busan with 2.86 million (6.4 percent).

The number of eligible voters for the parliamentary by-elections, which will be held concurrently in 14 districts, stood at 2.63 million. Foreign nationals are not eligible to vote in presidential and parliamentary elections. Early voting will take place across two days on May 29 and 30, before the main vote on June 3.