Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Seoul result denies both major parties outright victory in local elections
Democratic Party of Korea leader Jung Chung-rae, left, and People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok attend the 71st Memorial Day commemoration ceremony at Seoul National Cemetery, Saturday. Yonhap
By Anna J. Park
The aftermath of Korea’s June 3 local elections has produced an unusual political landscape, with neither the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) nor the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) able to claim an unequivocal victory.
While the ruling party dominated the nationwide race for metropolitan and provincial governor posts, the PPP retained the Seoul mayoralty and secured several key strategic districts, complicating efforts by either side to frame the election as a clear mandate.
On paper, the DPK emerged as the clear winner. The party captured 12 of the nation’s 16 metropolitan and provincial chief executive posts, reinforcing its dominance in local government. Such a result would traditionally be regarded as a sweeping mandate. Yet internal debate quickly followed as party members questioned whether the outcome fully reflected public support.
Much of the scrutiny has focused on the Seoul mayoral race, where the DPK failed to win control of the capital, the country’s largest and most politically influential local office.
The loss, combined with defeats in a few by-elections, has fueled criticism of the DPK party leadership and prompted renewed discussion over strategic missteps during the campaign. Some party figures have begun raising questions about the responsibility of party leader Jung Chung-rae.
The debate has emerged at a particularly sensitive moment as the DPK prepares for its next national convention scheduled for August. Attention is shifting toward internal leadership dynamics and the early stages of what is expected to become a competitive race for party control.
For the main opposition PPP, the election delivered a different but equally complicated message. Although the party suffered significant losses nationwide and failed to prevent DPK gains across much of the country, it has pointed to its victory in the Seoul mayoral contest — where Oh Se-hoon overturned polling deficits that had persisted for weeks — and successes in several strategically important districts as evidence that conservative support remains resilient.
PPP leaders have used these results to push back against calls for accountability within the party, giving more weight to current leader Jang Dong-hyeok. They also argue that retaining Seoul, often regarded as the political and economic center of the country, demonstrates that voters remain receptive to conservative leadership, despite broader setbacks.
Citizens chant slogans condemning ballot shortages during a protest demanding a revote of the June 3 local elections outside the Handball Gymnasium in Seoul’s Olympic Park in Songpa District, Sunday. Yonhap
Ballot shortage fuels tensions
The postelection debate intensified over controversy and party leadership surrounding ballot shortages. More than 50 constituencies nationwide, including Seoul's southeastern Songpa District, experienced unprecedented ballot shortages during voting. The incidents fueled protests led largely by younger voters in their 20s and 30s, who raised concerns over infringement of voting rights.
On Sunday, Jang called for a nationwide revote, arguing that suffrage had been "severely violated across the country," including in districts where PPP candidates won.
"The only slogan these citizens are chanting is one word: revote. The stage of picking and choosing which areas should or should not hold a revote has already passed. Holding a revote means politics acknowledging that this election was tainted and its legitimacy cannot be accepted," he said.
The PPP has increasingly sought to shift the political conversation away from the ballot shortage itself toward broader concerns over the fairness and credibility of the electoral process ahead of future elections.