Upcoming Elections in the Republic of Korea: Candidate Registration and the Balance of Power

On 13–14 May, the Republic of Korea saw the registration of candidates for the local and by-elections to the National Assembly scheduled for 3 June come to an end.

Preliminary Balance of Power

Traditionally, both Democrats and conservatives have their own “electoral strongholds,” where their parties usually obtain 70–80 per cent of the vote. The southwest of the country is a conservative bastion, whereas the southeast conventionally supports the Democrats. Other regions display more fluctuating political preferences.

For example, in 2016, in the wake of the impeachment of Park Geun Hye, the Democrats enjoyed a landslide victory, having even won a number of positions in the southeast. However, by 2021 they suffered a crushing defeat. Apart from the southwest, they retained only Jeju Island and the Seoul metropolitan province of Gyeonggi, where the democratic candidate defeated the conservative by a narrow margin of 0.3 per cent. All other key positions, including the office of the Mayor of Seoul, remained in conservative hands: conservatives secured 12 out of 17 positions of mayors and governors.

A total of 7,829 candidates have registered for the upcoming elections. Out of them, 54 are competing for the posts of provincial governors and mayors of the 16 largest cities, while 585 are seeking positions as heads of lower-level administrative units.

In addition to governors and mayors, 14 members of the National Assembly will be elected on 3 June. Most of these seats were previously held by representatives of the Democratic Party who either left office because of criminal investigations, mainly connected with corruption, or exchanged their parliamentary mandates for positions in the executive branch or participation in local elections.

Positions of the Democrats and Conservatives

President Lee Jae Myung is actively consolidating his power. With a loyal parliament and a series of legislative initiatives that reformed the investigative and judicial system in a direction favourable to him, he is seeking full control over the country. Victory in the local elections would become a key step towards this goal. If successful, the........

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