Scandal Unfolds in South Korea After Democrats' Victory in Local Elections |
Scandal Unfolds in South Korea After Democrats’ Victory in Local Elections
Protests in Seoul have now been under way for more than twenty days; the head of the Central Election Commission has resigned and a criminal case has been opened against him; President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating, once triumphant, has for the first time fallen below 50 per cent and is now outpaced by his disapproval rating. These are all outcomes of the scandal that erupted after the Democratic Party secured what initially appeared to be a convincing victory in the local government elections.
The most high-profile issue was a shortage of ballot papers at no fewer than 91 polling stations out of 14,288 nationwide – and, notably, all of these were in cities or districts where conservatives traditionally prevail. In Seoul alone, at least 42 polling stations, mostly located in traditionally conservative areas, were affected. Voting was temporarily suspended at 26 stations, and some voters left without casting their ballots. Subsequently, more than 42,000 unused ballot papers were found in the same districts.
It soon came out that, “due to the high rate of early voting,” the National Election Commission (NEC) had decided to reduce the minimum print run of ballots from 60 per cent to 50 per cent of the electorate, without holding a separate official meeting to authorise the change.
Then, several losing candidates – for example, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok – claimed that while the election-day vote count had favoured them, early voting had delivered a decisive victory to their opponent. In the same city, several polling stations produced identical results for early voting. Yoo’s supporters called this “statistically almost impossible,” fuelling suspicion among sceptical voters. A similar pattern was observed in elections held in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province.
The National Election Commission apologised for the ballot shortage, stating that under electoral law, a shortage of ballots does not constitute grounds for postponing an election or holding a re-run.
As a result, protests demanding a re-run have continued for 23 consecutive days. As of 8:00 pm on 27 June 2026, approximately 22,000 to 24,000 people had gathered near the handball gymnasium in the Olympic Park area of southern Seoul, which had served as a ballot-counting centre. Among the protesters were both elderly voters, who predominantly support conservatives, and younger people, including both supporters of the People Power Party and those simply........