The “old boys” are back after April 7 by-elections in Seoul and Busan.
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May 01, 2021
Oh Se-hoon, candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, celebrates with party members while watch monitors broadcasting the results of exit polls for the Seoul mayoral by-election at the party’s headquarters Wednesday, April 7, 2021, in Seoul, South Korea.
Credit: Song Kyung-seok/Pool Photo via AP
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South Korea held by-elections for mayoral posts in Seoul, the capital, and Busan, the country’s second largest city, on April 7. Oh Se-hoon and Park Hyung-Joon from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) won landslide victories. They will now serve the remaining 15 months of the previous mayors’ terms, until the regular cycle of local elections is restored.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Source: Getty
Summary: South Koreaâs ruling party suffered a crushing defeat in the Seoul and Busan by-elections. Will this rebuke by voters change the political calculus for President Moon Jae-in ahead of the 2022 presidential contest?
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On April 7, 2021, South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s Democratic Party (DP) lost important by-elections in South Korea’s two biggest cities the ruling party’s worst electoral defeat since coming to office in May 2017. In Seoul’s mayoral elections, former mayor and opposition candidate Oh Se-hoon recaptured city hall with a resounding 57.5 percent of the vote. Seoul’s mayor is considered the second most powerful position in South Korea after the presidency. Meanwhile, the DP candidate, Park Young-sun a political heavyweight who served as minister in Moon’s cabinet only received 39 percent. All twenty-f
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SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s ruling party suffered a devastating defeat in a special election for key mayoral posts amid political scandals and policy blunders, vote counts showed on Thursday.
Members of South Korean ruling Democratic Party watch screens showing the result of exit polls of the Seoul mayoral by-election at the party headquarters in Seoul, South Korea April 7, 2021. Jung Yeon-je/Pool via REUTERS
Millions of South Koreans went to the polls on Wednesday to elect chiefs of the country’s two largest cities, the capital Seoul and port city of Busan, among 21 local offices up for grabs.
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Millions of people in South Korea have expressed frustration at the way their country has been run by their liberal President, Moon Jae In.
They have dealt his ruling Democratic party a crushing defeat in this week’s elections and chosen conservative mayors for Seoul and South Korea’s second biggest city, Busan.
Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party will return as Seoul’s mayor after a break of ten years, while in Busan, another candidate of the PPP’s, Park Hyung-joon, won convincingly.
In response, the leadership team of the Democratic Party is set to resign – including the prime minister – although the president himself will remain in office until his five year term finishes next spring.