South Korea holds elections amid coronavirus outbreak

ANKARA (AA) - South Korea held parliamentary elections on Wednesday amid the coronavirus outbreak.

According to Yonhap News Agency, polling for 300 seats of the country's National Assembly started at 6 a.m local time [2100GMT] and will continue until 6 p.m. [0900GMT].

Some 44 million people are expected to cast their votes wearing faces masks and gloves.

They will also check their temperature and sanitize their hands before entering the polling station.

More than 11 million people were allowed to cast their vote in advance to avoid crowds.

The government has also decided to lift quarantine rules to allow around 50,000 self-isolators to cast their votes after the regular polling ends, the agency reported

According to local media the ruling Democratic Party is expected to secure majority seats following recent response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

South Korea has so far confirmed 10,591 coronavirus cases with 225 fatalities, while 7,616 patients have successfully recovered.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid