South Koreans Vote in Nationwide Local Elections Testing Lee Government

South Koreans went to the polls Wednesday to elect mayors, governors, local council members and regional education chiefs in elections officials described as an early test for the current administration. m. m. at 14,288 polling stations, the National Election Commission stated.

More than 44.6 million people were eligible to vote, including 10.4 million who had already participated in two days of early voting the previous week.

Sixteen mayoral and gubernatorial posts, sixteen education superintendent seats, 227 heads of local governments and roughly 4,000 local council members were on the ballot. The capital region, home to about half the national population, was among the areas drawing the most attention, according to the commission.

Fourteen seats in the 300-member National Assembly were also decided in by-elections held the same day.

The ruling party aimed to protect its parliamentary majority and legislative momentum, while the main opposition party sought to strengthen its position after earlier setbacks. Recent surveys indicated several races had tightened ahead of election day.

One closely watched by-election took place in Busan, where candidates competed for a seat previously held by the ruling party. He won a snap election arranged after the Constitutional Court ruled to remove former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law enactment.

In February, a Seoul district court convicted Yoon of rebellion and sentenced him to life in prison. Yoon’s ouster plunged the main opposition party into infighting between reformists who joined the push to impeach him and loyalists who attempted to protect the former leader.

The Seoul mayoral race pitted the ruling party’s candidate, a former district head, against the incumbent mayor from the main opposition party. The opposition candidate told reporters Tuesday that Seoul voters should leave the capital as the last stronghold for checks and balances.

The ruling party candidate said he expected voters to deliver a stern verdict on the incumbent mayor’s governance style.