Results of local elections in the Republic of Korea

On 3 June, local government elections and parliamentary by-elections took place in South Korea. The ruling Democratic Party “Toburo” won a decisive victory.

The course of the elections

It should be recalled that, in addition to 14 seats in parliament, South Koreans were to elect 16 mayors of centrally administered cities and provincial governors, 227 mayors of provincial cities, heads of municipal districts and counties, 933 members of the legislative assemblies of centrally administered cities and provinces, and 3,035 members of the legislative assemblies of provincial cities, municipal districts, and counties.

The first nationwide elections after Lee Jae Myung’s administration came to power were seen as an indicator of the level of public trust in the country’s leadership. Therefore, President Lee undertook the maximum number of measures to ensure the ‘right picture.’ On the one hand, the authorities pledged to mercilessly combat electoral violations; on the other hand, through media associated with the authorities, the argument was actively disseminated that, according to polls, the entire nation, especially the population of key cities, longed for a Democratic victory (with the gap in percentage chances in some cases exceeding 10 per cent), but the conservatives, most of whom are covert supporters of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who wanted to impose martial law, trample democracy and imprison the current president, are capable of any intrigues possible.

On 29-30 May, a snap vote took place in the Republic of Korea for the local and additional parliamentary elections. According to the Central Election Commission, over the two days, 10,498,411 people, or 23.51 per cent of the 44,649,908 registered voters, including the president and most politicians, cast their votes. To what extent such a high percentage of ballots cast in advance may facilitate violations is a matter of debate.

In total, voter turnout was 60.7 per cent, which is the second highest figure in the history of local elections.

The very first polls demonstrated that the ‘People Power Party’ was leading in only one governor’s race, but in the end the conservatives held their electoral stronghold – the provinces of North and South Gyeongsang, as well as the city of Daegu. Everything else, except Seoul, now belongs to the Democrats: 12 out of 16 provincial governor........

© New Eastern Outlook