Local Election Landslide

[Anchor Lead]

The ruling Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the local elections on Wednesday, taking 14 of the 17 gubernatorial and mayoral posts in contention nationwide. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party managed to win only two seats -- both in the traditionally conservative southeastern region. Here's more.

[Pkg]

Everything was just as it was expected. The ruling Democratic Party won 14 of the 17 gubernatorial and mayoral posts in the local elections. The public chose to give its all-out support to the government and the ruling party. The conservative Liberty Korea Party managed to grab only two seats, both in the traditionally conservative Daegu-Gyeongbuk region. Voters in the Jeju Special Self-governing Province chose the independent candidate, their incumbent governor Won Hee-ryong yet again. The Democratic Party swept the seats in the Seoul metropolitan area. Its candidate Park Won-soon achieved a landslide victory for the post of Seoul mayor. In the election for the governor of Gyeonggi-do Province, the winner is Lee Jae-myung, who clinched his victory despite a scandal involving an actress. What's particular noteworthy is that the Democratic Party also won three posts in the Busan-Gyeongnam region, where it had never won a gubernatorial or mayoral post before. This is quite unprecedented given that in the past efforts of liberal candidates to convince voters in the region to get rid of regionalism ended up in despair each time. It's the largest victory in local elections for any ruling party thus far. Pundits say that this year's local elections served as an opportunity for the Democratic Party to obtain revenge for its crushing defeat in the 2006 local elections, when it managed to win only one of the 16 seats, while its conservative rival swept 12. The 2018 local elections have clearly demonstrated what the public thinks of the conservative Liberal Korea Party, which has ended up in disgrace, as well as the Bareun Party and the Party for Democracy and Peace, which failed to win any of the gubernatorial or mayoral posts.