South Korea’s ruling party loses key mayoral votes

SEOUL: South Korea’s conservative opposition won landslide victories in votes for the mayors of the country’s two biggest cities, results showed on Thursday, in a bad sign for Moon Jae-in’s Democratic Party a year before the next presidential poll.

Both Democratic-held posts became vacant last year as a result of sexual harassment allegations, with Seoul mayor Park Won-soon killing himself while the leader of the southern port of Busan resigned.

Between them the two municipalities account for around a quarter of the national population and the vote was seen as a significant barometer of public opinion ahead of the March 2022 presidential election.

In Seoul, Oh Se-hoon of the conservative People Power Party defeated his Democratic opponent by 57.5 percent to 39.2 percent, according to the National Election Commission, winning all the city’s 25 districts.

"I can’t hold back the heavy sense of responsibility that’s really weighing down on my mind," said Oh. The conservatives’ margin of victory in Busan was even higher, at 62.7 percent to 34.4 percent.

Moon and his Democratic Party have been struggling with plummeting ratings in recent months amid public outrage over soaring housing prices, deepening inequality and corruption and sex abuse scandals involving senior officials. In a statement, the ruling party said it "humbly accepts the public sentiment displayed in the election results", adding: "We have caused the public huge disappointment due to our shortcomings."

The two new mayors will serve out the remaining 14 months of their predecessors’ four-year terms. Moon -- who is limited to a single term by the South’s constitution -- saw his approval ratings plunge to a record low 32 percent last week, with 58 percent disapproving of the job he is doing, according a survey by Gallup Korea.