By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Local elections to fill 52 vacancies nationwide will be held today at a time when the governing Grand National Party (GNP) is seeing its support fall to a record low amid a crisis triggered by the government's decision to resume U.S. beef imports.
The vacancies up for grabs include nine local government office chiefs, including the heads of Gangdong-gu, Seoul; So-gu, Incheon; and Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province; and 43 local council members.
The lowest-ever turnout is expected in the voting, which begins at 6 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m., according to the National Election Commission (NEC).
Political observers called the elections a public evaluation of President Lee Myung-bak's first 100 days in office.
According to polls conducted by major Korean newspapers, Lee garnered support of only 19.7 percent to 22.9 percent before marking his 100th day in office Tuesday.
Lee's conservative GNP is the largest negotiating bloc in the National Assembly after winning 153 out of 299 seats in the April 9 general elections. Around that time, the party enjoyed support of 52.9 percent, according to a joint survey by the Chosun Ilbo newspaper and Gallup Korea.
Voters who have turned their back on the governing party, however, have not turned to the opposition parties.
The main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), which received support of 15 percent in the April elections, is currently only up 1.9 percentage points.
Political analysts said the survey showed that the liberal party has yet to appeal to the public as a good substitute for the GNP.
The UDP has sought to raise its rock-bottom popularity and regain public trust by merging with the Democratic Party.
However, the party's popularity is still hovering around the 10 percent range, similar to that of the now-defunct and then governing Uri Party, the de facto predecessor of the UDP.
The Uri Party created by former President Roh Moo-hyun and his followers in 2003 saw its support plunge as Roh showed little progress in reinvigorating the economy and curbing housing prices.
Despite the dim prospects for the two major parties, political observers speculate that the GNP will likely fill more vacancies in the June 4 elections because it has better organizational skills.
Today's race is likely to have a turnout of 25 percent, but in a worst-case scenario, it could fall below 24.8 percent, the lowest recorded in local elections in July, 2006, an NEC official said.
The election commission is making last-ditch efforts to get voters out by handing out leaflets and providing voters with movie tickets.