DP Dominates Local Govt Elections, But Loses Seoul Mayoral Seat to PPP

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) swept local elections and parliamentary by-elections, and also won the key mayoralty in the traditional conservative stronghold of Busan, but it lost the Seoul mayoral seat to the opposition People Power Party (PPP).

The counting of votes cast for the 9th local government elections on June 3 was completed in the morning of the following day.

The victor of the local government elections went to the ruling Democratic Party.

DP took home 12 seats out of 16 metropolitan local government races.

The main opposition party People Power Party retained Seoul and the three traditional conservative strongholds of Daegu, Gyeongsnagbuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do.

Incumbent Mayor Oh Se-hoon was elected to a fifth term, coming from behind in a tightly fought Seoul mayoral race.

The DP winners of the June 3 local government elections include Park Chan-dae in Incheon, Huh Tae-jeong in Daejeon, Min Hyung-bae in Jeollanam-do and Kwangju, Kim Sang-wook in Ulsan, Jo Sang-ok in Sejong, Shin Yong-han in Chungcheongbuk-do, Park Soo-hyun in Chungcheongnam-do and Lee Won-taek in Jeollabuk-do.

PPP retained control of Daegu, Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do races, electing Choo Kyung-ho with a 53.92 percent share, Lee Cheol-woo with a 67.24 percent share and Park Wan-soo with a 51.31 percent share, respectively.

DP candidate Choo Mi-ae became the first female metropolitan government head in constitutional history.

Of the total 14 seats contested in the parliamentary by-elections, which were held concurrently with the local elections, the DP clinched nine, followed by the PPP with four seats, while the remaining seat was won by an independent.

The latest election results marked a sharp turnaround in voter sentiment from four years earlier, when the then ruling PPP had claimed 12 out of 17 major gubernatorial and mayoral positions in the last local elections.

The 2022 local elections were held a month after Yoon took office.

In the southeastern city of Busan, DP candidate Jeon Jae-soo edged out the PPP’s Park Heong-joon by a slim margin.

The elections were widely seen as the first nationwide test for Lee, who was elected in a snap presidential election following the ouster of Yoon over his botched martial law bid in December 2024.

Throughout its election campaign, the DP had urged the public to make a stern judgment on what it called the “remnants” of Yoon’s “insurrectionist forces.”

Also at stake in this year’s local elections were 16 education superintendent seats, along with 227 heads of local governments and some 4,000 members of local councils.

This year’s elections were partly marred by an unprecedented shortage of ballots at 14 polling stations in parts of Seoul, prompting the temporary suspension of voting there, with some voters said to have left without voting.

The ruling party also performed strongly in races for local government heads across the country, winning 119 of 227 mayoral, county chief and district chief posts.

Among the winners on the DP ticket are Choi Hyun-deok in Namyangju, Sung Su-seok in Icheon and Kim Myung-shik in Jincheon County.

The PPP took 95, including Lee Sang-il in Yongin, while the minor Rebuilding Korea Party won two and independents captured 11.

In Seoul’s district chief elections, the DP swept 17 of the capital’s 25 districts, leaving the PPP with eight.