Police said Monday they will be on high alert during this week's general elections.

A total of 84,995 officers will be dispatched to polling stations and ballot counting offices across the country from when the voting kicks off at 6 a.m. on Wednesday until the vote-counting officially ends, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.

The number is equivalent to around 60 percent of the total police force in South Korea.

Police officers will be on hourly patrol duties at 13,837 polling stations in the country to deal with any emergencies during the elections, the NPA said.

When the ballot boxes are transferred to vote-counting stations, two armed officers will accompany representatives from the National Election Commission (NEC). Police said they will also assign 60 police officers to each of the 253 vote-counting offices across the country.

All officers will not be allowed to take days off in order to maintain the available forces at 100 percent, according to police.(Yonhap)