Local elections, by-elections are triumph for Yoon Suk-yeol's PPP

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Local elections, by-elections are triumph for Yoon Suk-yeol's PPP

Published: 02 Jun. 2022, 17:27 Updated: 02 Jun. 2022, 17:33

Lee Jun-seok, center right, chairman of the People Power Party (PPP), and other party officials cheer as they hear the results of the June 1 local elections and by-elections from a situation room in the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, Wednesday night. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

After major defeats in Wednesday's elections, the leadership of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) stepped down Thursday to take responsibly.

President Yoon Suk-yeol's People Power Party (PPP) won big in the local elections and parliamentary by-elections Wednesday, clinching 12 of 17 key metropolitan mayor and provincial governor posts contested, according to the National Election Commission (NEC) Thursday morning. PPP candidates won gubernatorial posts in Gangwon, North and South Chungcheong and North and South Gyeongsang, and mayoral posts in the cities of Seoul, Incheon, Sejong, Daejeon, Daegu, Ulsan and Busan.

The Democratic Party (DP) took the remaining five posts: mayor of Gwangju and governors of Jeju, North and South Jeolla and Gyeonggi, where the tightest race unfolded.

In the seven National Assembly seats contested in by-elections, the PPP won five and the DP two.

In local elections, the PPP's Oh Se-hoon was re-elected Seoul mayor, beating Song Young-gil, former DP chairman, with 59.05 percent of votes compared to 39.23 percent for Song. Oh served two terms from 2006 to 2010, and returned to the post by winning a by-election in April 2021. He will be the first person to serve a fourth term as mayor of the capital.

In a neck-and-neck race to become Gyeonggi governor, the DP's Kim Dong-yeon, a former finance minister in the Moon Jae-in administration, made an unexpected turnaround and defeated the PPP's Kim Eun-hye. An exit poll conducted by the three major broadcasters the previous evening found Gyeonggi too close to call but showed Kim Eun-hye, a former spokesperson for Yoon's presidential transition committee, with a slight lead.

As tallying continued into the wee hours of Thursday morning, Kim Dong-yeon overtook his PPP rival around 5 a.m. and finally declared a razor-thin victory with 49.06 percent against Kim Eun-hye's 48.91 percent at around 7 a.m.

In Incheon, the PPP's Yoo Jeong-bok won the mayor's race with 51.76 percent against 44.55 percent for incumbent mayor Park Nam-chun of the DP.

The June 1 local elections selected 4,125 elected posts including regional education office superintendents and lower-level administrative and local council positions.

In Seoul, PPP candidates won 17 out of 25 district office head positions, while the DP won eight. Four years ago, the DP won 24 out of 25 district office heads, losing only in Seocho District.

The PPP also won 76 seats out of 112 on the Seoul Metropolitan Council, against the DP's 36. The PPP-dominated council is expected to support Oh Se-hoon's policies. The Seoul mayor has lamented its lack of support in the past.

The National Assembly seats up for grabs were in Suseong District in Daegu; Gyeyang District in Incheon; Bundang District in Seongnam, Gyeonggi; Wonju in Gangwon; Seocheon County in Boryeong, South Chungcheong; Changwon in South Gyeongsang; and Jeju City.

Ahn Cheol-soo, Yoon's transition team chairman, won a seat representing Bundang-A district. The software mogul-turned-politician received 62.5 percent of the votes, according to the NEC, beating the DP's Kim Byoung-gwan, who was running for reelection.

The DP won in Incheon and Jeju.

Lee Jae-myung, the former Gyeonggi governor who lost the presidential race in March, won a seat in Incheon's Gyeyang-B district, running against the PPP's Yoon Hyung-sun. Lee received 55.24 percent and Yoon 44.75 percent.

The Democratic Party's interim leadership apologizes and resigns to take responsibility for the party’s defeat in the June 1 local elections at a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, Thursday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Despite its few wins, the liberal DP conceded defeat just weeks after its loss of the presidential election.

Rep. Yoon Ho-jung and Park Ji-hyun, the DP's interim co-chairs, and all other members of the party's emergency steering committee stepped down to take responsibility for the defeat. The eight members of the DP's interim leadership committee bowed 90 degrees in apology in a press conference Thursday afternoon.

"We apologize to the people and party members who have supported us," said Yoon. "We would like to express our gratitude to the people who raised the bar for greater reform and drastic innovation within the DP."

"We were completely defeated in the local elections," DP interim co-chair Park wrote on her Facebook account. "Unfortunately, we have utterly failed to win the hearts of the people."

Park Hong-geun, the DP's floor leader, will helm the party temporarily until a new interim leadership is selected. The DP's national convention is in August.

In 2018, the DP won a landslide local election victory, winning 14 out of 17 key mayoral and gubernatorial posts. The DP achieved another major victory in the 2020 general elections. But the DP has been on a losing streak since the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election.

Song Young-gil stepped down as DP chair after the March 9 presidential loss and the party has struggled to find cohesive leadership, with recent friction between Rep. Yoon and Park, who has called for older politicians to make way for younger ones in the party. The DP also expelled a lawmaker over sexual misconduct, an issue that has plagued the party's politicians.

The leadership of the minor progressive Justice Party also resigned after losing all the elections it contested.

The PPP cautiously celebrated its latest election victory.

PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok said on the victorious results, "We will use this as a lesson to only serve the people with humility."

He added, "More than anything else, I think this election signifies that the people have given us trust in our appeal to let the Yoon Suk-yeol administration work without any hindrances."

Turnout for Wednesday's elections was a dismally low 50.9 percent, or 22,564,394 out of 44,303,449 eligible voters, according to the NEC. In contrast, the early voting turnout last week was 20.62 percent, the highest ever for a local election.

This was the second lowest turnout for local elections since 48.9 percent in 2002. Total turnout was 60.2 percent in 2018 local elections, following an upward trend since 2002.

By region, turnout for the latest elections was lowest in Gwangju, at 37.7 percent, and highest in Gyeonggi, at 63.8 percent. The Honam region, referring to Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces, is traditionally a liberal stronghold.

Thus, the PPP considered it a minor victory of sorts that its candidates for Gwangju and North and South Jeolla all exceeded 15 percent in votes for the first time in local elections.

Since taking office, President Yoon reached across the political divide and attended a ceremony marking the May 18 Democratization Movement commemoration ceremony in Gwangju and sent flowers and a condolence letter to mark the 13th anniversary of the death of former President Roh Moo-hyun.

Yoon was quoted by presidential spokesperson Kang In-sun as saying Thursday, "I take the election results as the people's call to revive the economy and take better care of their livelihoods."

He continued, "To this end, we will work together with local governments to overcome difficulties in the future."

Yoon added that his administration will devote its energy to "stabilizing the livelihoods of the people" while prioritizing the revitalization of the economy as its most urgent task.

The latest elections marked an early political return of presidential hopefuls.

Kim Dong-yeon dropped out of the recent presidential race to support Lee Jae-myung but could come to more prominence amid a leadership vacuum in the DP. Ahn Cheol-soo also stepped down at the last minute to support Yoon in the March 9 election and merged his minor People's Party with the PPP. The latest race was a crucial one for Ahn, a three-time presidential contender, to secure his position in the PPP.

Oh Se-hoon's victory likewise opens up presidential possibilities, as quite a few Seoul mayors in the past have gone on to hold higher office, such as President Lee Myung-bak.

Conservative heavyweight Hong Joon-pyo, PPP's runner-up against Yoon in the recent presidential primary race, made a political comeback and was overwhelmingly elected as Daegu mayor.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]