South Korea's Democratic Party Projected for Gains in Local Elections

The vote is widely seen as an assessment of President Lee Jae-myung’s first year in office

South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party is projected to make sweeping gains in local elections on Wednesday, an exit poll showed, but a close race in the key city of Busan left it unclear whether President Lee Jae-myung’s party could claim a landslide victory.

Voting had ‌largely closed in the first nationwide ballot since Lee’s snap presidential election victory last year.

Voters were choosing mayors and governors in 16 cities and provinces in a contest widely seen as an assessment of Lee’s first year in office, and a test of whether the conservative People Power Party can recover from the fallout of former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed martial law bid in 2024.

An exit poll by South Korea’s three major broadcasters put the Democratic Party ahead in 11 ⁠of the 16 major mayoral and gubernatorial races, with the People Power Party leading in one, and four contests too close to call.

The ‌Democratic Party candidate was projected to win Seoul, the country’s capital and biggest political prize, while the party was also ahead in Gyeonggi province and Incheon, the two other major constituencies in the greater ‌Seoul area.

But Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city and a conservative stronghold, was rated too close to call, with ⁠the Democratic and People Power Party ⁠candidates in a tight race, the exit poll showed.