Korea begins early voting for June 1 local elections

A voter places their ballots in a ballot box at an early voting polling station in Yongsan District, Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Survey shows ruling party taking sizable lead in 9 major constituencies

By Nam Hyun-woo

Early voting started Friday for the June 1 local elections, which will select 4,125 candidates for elected posts across the country, including 17 metropolitan mayors and provincial governors.

The election will be an early barometer gauging President Yoon Suk-yeol's performance less than a month after his inauguration, as well as determining whether the ruling People Power Party (PPP) can manage to break the dominance of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

According to the National Election Commission (NEC), early voting started at 6 a.m. at 3,551 polling stations across the country, for 12 hours until 6 p.m. Voters can cast their ballots during the same period on Saturday, while COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine will be able to vote from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday only.

As of 6 p.m., Friday, the turnout for the local elections was 10.18 percent, which is 1.41 percentage points higher than what was recorded at the same time during the 2018 local elections.

Voters fill in ballots in booths installed at a polling station at Incheon International Airport, Friday during the first day of early voting. Yonhap

There are 44.3 million eligible voters for the June 1 election, including 127,623 foreign nationals who have been residing in Korea for more than three years after earning permanent residency.

The local elections will select representatives for 4,125 elective jobs, such as provincial governors, mayors, metropolitan and provincial council heads and members, education office superintendents and members of lower-level local councils. Of them, more than 500 people have been elected even before early voting began, because there were no rivals, or the number of candidates was smaller than the number of local council seats up for grabs.

Incumbent Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is running for a fourth term on the ruling People Power Party ticket, and his wife, leave booths at a polling station in Gwangjin District, Seoul, Friday on the first day of early voting. Joint Press Corps

Of the elections, the highest-profile races are for 17 metropolitan mayor and provincial governor posts.

According to a joint poll conducted by Ipsos, Hankook Research and Korea Research revealed on Thursday, the PPP has taken the lead in nine constituencies, while the DPK has taken the lead in four.

Incumbent Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is running for a fourth term on the PPP ticket, secured a 53.6-percent support rate over the DPK's Song Young-gil with 31.2 percent. The PPP was also leading in the races for Gangwon Province governor, Busan mayor, Ulsan mayor, Daegu mayor, South Gyeongsang Province governor and North Gyeongsang Province governor. These six regions have conventionally been strongholds for conservative parties.

In the North Chungcheong Province governor race, PPP candidate Kim Young-hwan was ahead of DPK candidate Noh Young-min, who was former chief of staff to former President Moon Jae-in. For South Chungcheong Province governor, PPP candidate Kim Tae-heum was outpacing the DPK's Yang Seung-jo.

In most of Korea's nationwide elections, it has usually been difficult to predict the outcome in the Chungcheong provinces, but this time the North Chungcheong and South Chungcheong provincial governor appear to be leaning toward the conservative side.

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In this combined photo, the top two candidates for Gyeonggi Province governor, People Power Party candidate Kim Eun-hye, left, and Democratic Party of Korea candidate Kim Dong-yeon, cast their votes at polling stations in Seongnam and Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, respectively, Friday.

On the other hand, the DPK was leading in the four jurisdictions of Gwangju Metropolitan City, the South and North Jeolla Provinces and Jeju Special Autonomous Province. Gwangju mayor candidate Kang Ki-jeong, North Jeolla Province governor candidate Kim Kwan-young and South Jeolla Province governor candidate Kim Young-rok were all holding support rates of more than 50 percent. In the Jeju governor race, the DPK's Oh Young-hoon was leading by over 10 percentage points.

In the races for Gyeonggi Province governor, Incheon mayor, Daejeon mayor and Sejong mayor, candidates from the rival parties have been neck-and-neck within the survey's margin of error.

The race for the Gyeonggi Province governorship, which is the most heated, the DPK's Kim Dong-yeon has 39.1 percent support, outpacing the PPP's Kim Eun-hye, who has 37.7 percent.

In Incheon, PPP mayoral candidate Yoo Jeong-bok was ahead of the DPK's Park Nam-chun by 4.1 percentage points, while DPK candidates are maintaining narrow leads in the Daejeon and Sejong mayoral races.

The survey was requested by broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS and questioned 14,020 adults from May 23 to 25. Further details are available on National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker candidate Lee Jae-myung votes at a polling station in Gyeyang District, Incheon, Friday. Joint Press Corps

By-elections

Alongside the vote for local representatives, the voters of seven constituencies will cast ballots for lawmakers to fill empty seats at the National Assembly.

Former presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung of the DPK and Ahn Cheol-soo of the PPP have jumped into the race, running for Incheon Gyeyang District B and Seongnam Bundang District A, respectively.

While Ahn has a comfortable lead of 56.1 percent support over DPK candidate Kim Byung-kwan, with 28.2 percent, Lee is in a neck-and-neck race against the PPP's rookie politician, Yun Hyung-sun, with Lee slightly behind Yun in some surveys.

Big names call for turnout

As the country begins early voting, the two main rival parties are striving to urge people to participate in early voting, each claiming that high early voting turnout is advantageous for victory.

Current Seoul Mayor and candidate for a fourth term, Oh Se-hoon, voted at a polling station in Gwangjin District and told reporters, "Please participate in early voting so that I can have the opportunity to work and keep Seoul's engine running for change."

PPP spokesperson Yang Geum-hee said in a commentary Friday that "despite the presidential election victory, the DPK is still exploiting its influence through its majority in the Assembly and dominance in local government jobs," and urged "everyone to participate in early voting for the sake of the future."

DPK lawmaker candidate Lee Jae-myung, Seoul mayor candidate Song Young-gil and Gyeonggi Province governor candidate Kim Dong-yeon also participated in early voting on Friday. A day earlier, Lee said at a canvassing event, "We will win if the turnout is high."

With many big-name candidates participating in early voting, President Yoon likewise voted on Friday in an apparent bid to promote early voting also.

Yoon, who is still commuting from his home in Seocho District, Seoul, voted with his wife, Kim Kun-hee, at a polling station near the presidential office in Yongsan District, without making any noteworthy comments.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Kun-hee cast their votes at an early voting polling station in Yongsan District, Seoul, Friday. Joint Press Corps