South Koreans Vote in Local Elections Testing President Lee's Administration

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- South Koreans voted Wednesday in high-stakes local elections that could set the tone for President Lee Jae Myung's second year in office and offer the first nationwide test of support for his administration.

The National Election Commission (NEC) said 21.83 million, or 48.9 percent of more than 44.64 million eligible voters, had cast ballots at 14,288 polling stations nationwide as of 2 p.m. Voting kicked off at 6 a.m. and will continue until 6 p.m.

The NEC said 10.5 million already cast ballots during two days of early voting last week.

Turnout for the two-day early voting period last week came to an all-time high of 23.51 percent, raising expectations that overall turnout could surpass 60 percent. The early voting turnout will be counted in the overall turnout tally starting at 1 p.m.

The elections are widely seen as the first nationwide test for Lee, who came to office in June 2025 following the ouster of former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched martial law bid.

Up for grabs are 16 mayoral and gubernatorial posts, and 16 education superintendent seats, along with 227 heads of local governments and some 4,000 members of local councils.

Also at stake are 14 parliamentary seats in closely watched by-elections across the country, including races in Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, Daegu and Busan.

Rival parties called on voters to head to the polls to "make their voices heard" for the future of the country.

"Voting is the most direct and powerful means by which the people, as sovereign power holders, can realize the spirit of the Constitution," ruling Democratic Party (DP) leader Rep. Jung Chung-rae said at the National Assembly.

"A single vote can change the lives of voters and their families, and help pave the way for a brighter future for the Republic of Korea," he said.

Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), called on voters to cast their ballots to stop Lee's "arrogance and unchecked abuse of power."

"The people must hold him accountable and keep him in check," Jang said, criticizing the Lee government's economic policy as a failure.

In a social media post, Lee said that South Korea is and will further become a "leading" and "irreplaceable" nation so long as the people "do not give up their votes."

"We can get there, and in fact, we are getting there already," he said. "But only if people do not give up on voting and choose competent and dedicated public servants."

While the DP initially aimed for a landslide victory, recent surveys have shown races tightening with the PPP.

The DP now considers six out of the 16 key races as competitive battlegrounds, including Seoul, and the southeastern cities of Busan and Ulsan.

Among them, the Seoul mayoral race is widely expected to be one of the key battlegrounds in this year's local elections, with recent polls showing incumbent Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the PPP and DP candidate Chong Won-o in a neck-and-neck race.

The capital region -- home to roughly half of the country's population -- is often considered a key, if not the most important, battleground.

As for the parliamentary by-elections, one of the most closely watched races is the Buk-A constituency in the southeastern city of Busan, where Ha Jung-woo, a former presidential secretary to Lee for artificial intelligence policy and future planning, faces former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon, who is running as an independent, and former PPP lawmaker Park Min-shik.

Recent polls showed Han and Ha locked in a tight race with the lead swinging back and forth between the two, while Park trailed behind both candidates.

Of the 14 assembly seats at stake, 13 were previously held by the ruling party.

Backed by President Lee's solid approval ratings, the DP, which holds a parliamentary majority, hopes to safeguard its seats to strengthen the party's legislative momentum.

The PPP seeks to shore up conservative support as it looks to rebuild the conservative bloc amid declining public support and growing internal rifts in the aftermath of Yoon's botched bid to impose martial law in December 2024.

The conservative party had claimed 12 out of 17 major gubernatorial and mayoral positions in the 2022 local elections held a month after Yoon took office.