The striking feature of this election has been the leading opposition candidate, Lee Jae-myung, campaigning in a bullet-proof vest.
At a recent rally, he was escorted to the podium by close protection officers, ready to shield him with their ballistic briefcases. He then addressed the crowd from behind bullet-proof glass, under the gaze of rooftop watchers.
This is not South Korean politics as usual. But South Korea has not been itself lately.
It is still recovering from the martial law crisis last December, when the president, Yoon Suk Yeol, tried to orchestrate a military takeover.
He failed, because of resistance from the public and politicians, and was impeached, triggering this snap election to choose his successor.
But the chaos Yoon unleashed that night has festered.
While stuck in limbo, without a president, the country has become more polarised and its politics more violent.
At street protests earlier this year it became commonplace to chant for various political leaders to be executed. And since launching his presidential bid, Lee has been receiving death threats, and his team say they have even uncovered a credible plot to assassinate him.
This election is an opportunity to steer South Korea back onto safer, more stable ground, and heal these fractures.Given this, the ruling party was always going to struggle, marred by President Yoon’s self-defeating coup. But rather than break away from the disgraced former president, the conservative People Power Party (PPP) has chosen a candidate who repeatedly defended Yoon and his actions.