The ruling party, the Common Democratic Party, lost the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections by a wide margin of votes on Wednesday.
Park Young-seon, the candidate for Seoul mayor of the Joint Democratic Party, and Kim Yong-chun, the candidate for Busan mayor, were narrowly defeated by their opponents from the very beginning of the election, and both of them conceded defeat in the election, saying that they “will accept the election results with an open mind.
The Yonhap News Agency reported that the ruling party has lost the trust of the people because of the real estate policy that has led to tax burden and soaring property prices, the government’s excessive responsibility for epidemic prevention but the epidemic is not under control, and the constant doubts about vaccines, as well as the recent scandal of land speculation by public officials.
In contrast, the strategy of “punishing the ruling party with votes” called for by the National Power has worked, and the fact that Oh Se Hoon has been the mayor of Seoul for more than 5 years and “can get started quickly” is one of the strong advantages of Oh’s camp. Oh was first elected as mayor of Seoul in 2006, and was successful in his bid for re-election in 2010, before resigning from office in August 2011 due to policy failure. The main policies of the Seoul Metropolitan Government are expected to change drastically after Oh Se-hun takes office, especially the policy of accelerating housing supply is the first priority.
According to the South Korean Central Election Commission, the national voter turnout for the by-election was 55.5%, while the turnout in Seoul and Busan was 58.2% and 52.7% respectively, which is the first time that the voter turnout in a by-election for a local chief in South Korea exceeded 50%.
Recent Comments