South Korea’s local council and government by-elections went to the polls on April 7, and the results were announced early today, the 8th. The largest opposition party has a big lead over the ruling party in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections. The local by-election is seen as an outpost of the presidential election next March.
According to Yonhap news agency, South Korea’s largest opposition party, the National Power Party, won a landslide victory in the by-elections for Seoul and Busan mayors. The opposition party won 19 out of 23 constituencies, while the ruling party won only 4 constituencies.
In Seoul, National Power Party candidate Oh Se-hun defeated ruling party candidate Park Young-sun with 57.5%. The latter received 39.18 percent of the vote. In Busan, KMT candidate Park Hyung Jun beat the ruling party’s candidate Kim Yong Chun (34.42%) with 62.97% of the vote.
Both of them officially took office today, April 8. In the morning, Oh Sae-hun paid a visit to Hyeonchungwon in Seoul and wrote in his guestbook, “Seoul City that is starting again, the Republic of Korea that is standing upright and stable. In the afternoon, he visited the New Crown Vaccine 1 vaccination center in Seoul. He said that he will take care of the citizens who are in trouble due to the epidemic. The new mayor of Busan, Park Hyung-jun, said that he will repay the citizens who supported him during the difficulties with quality municipal work.
The leadership of South Korea’s ruling party, the United Democratic Party, announced today that it is resigning en masse to take responsibility for the fiasco of the local election. The party held a general meeting on the 8th to agree on the leadership’s resignation.
It is generally believed that this local by-election in South Korea is the wind direction of the presidential election in March next year. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he will seriously accept national accountability and will govern with a lower profile as well as a greater sense of responsibility in the future, working to overcome the new crown epidemic, restore the economy, stabilize people’s livelihoods, regulate real estate corruption and meet the urgent needs of the nation.
According to Reuters, Moon’s Common Democratic Party has been plagued by frequent political scandals and policy failures, as well as a series of blows such as soaring housing prices, rising social inequality, sexual exploitation scandals, and deteriorating inter-Korean relations. In recent months, Moon and the Common Democratic Party’s approval rating has fallen to a record low.
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