Electoral results expose stark geographic divide

While the liberal Democratic Party (DP) emerged as the winner of the April 10 general election, Korea’s voting landscape remains starkly divided with the western region largely leaning liberal and the eastern region favoring the conservative People Power Party (PPP).

Voters in regions that have been considered swing districts, such as the greater Seoul area and the Chungcheong provinces, sided with the DP for the election.

The DP swept up victory in the western half of the country, including Seoul. The party clinched a total of 175 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, 14 of which were selected by proportional representation.

Meanwhile, the People Power Party (PPP), aligned with President Yoon Suk Yeol, secured 90 seats representing constituencies mostly in the eastern regions, which include the Gyeongsang provinces and Daegu, which have traditionally been conservative-leaning districts. With the addition of 18 spots secured through proportional representation, the PPP holds 108 seats in total.

In the greater Seoul area — encompassing a total of 122 constituencies, including 48 in Seoul, 53 in Gyeonggi and 14 in Incheon — the DP won 101 seats, while the PPP only secured 19.

In the previous general election in 2020, the DP won in 105 of 121 constituencies.

In Seoul alone, the DP took 37 seats out of 48. The PPP won in 11 constituencies, including the posh neighborhoods in Gangnam District, Seocho District and Songpa District in southern Seoul.

The PPP performed marginally better in Seoul compared to the previous election. In 2020, when Seoul had 49 constituencies, the PPP secured only 8 spots in the National Assembly while the DP collected 41.

In Gyeonggi, on the other hand, the DP clinched two additional seats compared to four years ago when the party secured 53 out of 60 seats. The PPP won 6, while Reform Party Lee Jun-seok took victory in the Hwaseong-B District.

In 2020, the DP had 51 seats, the PPP 7 and the Justice Party 1.

The DP took over the Chungcheon region as well. The PPP lost in all nine constituencies in Daejeon and Sejong. In the Sejong-A District, Saemirae Party's Kim Jong-min emerged as the winner against the PPP candidate Ryu Je-hua. Kim is the only elected candidate from the Saemirae Party, as former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon suffered a huge loss against DP's incumbent candidate Min Hyung-bae in the Gwangsan-B District in Gwangju.

However, the conservative voting trend remained strong in the southeastern port city of Busan, where the PPP won in 17 constituencies out of 18. The only district won by a DP candidate was Buk-A District, where DP's two-term lawmaker Rep. Jeon Jae-soo won by a 5.64 percentage point margin over his conservative rival.

Meanwhile, the PPP won 25 seats in the traditionally conservative districts in North Gyeongsang and Daegu. In liberal-leaning Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces, the DP won all 28 seats.

With the latest victory, the DP continues its winning streak for the third general election, following the ones in 2016 and 2020.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]