Ruling Democratic Party Projected to Win Majority in Key Local Elections

By Yi Wonju

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Democratic Party (DP) was projected to win at least 10 of the 16 key races in Wednesday's local elections, exit polls by major broadcasters showed, in what could also be a clear victory for the Lee Jae Myung administration, which begins its second year in office this week.

The DP was projected to win 10 of the metropolitan mayoral and gubernatorial posts, according to a JTBC exit poll, while a separate exit poll by KBS, MBC and SBS showed the DP securing 11 key races.

Both polls showed the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) expected to secure just one post.

Four to five races were too close to call, according to the polls.

At stake in this year's local elections were 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.

Among the key battlegrounds, Chong Won-o of the DP was projected to win the Seoul mayoral race with 53.5 percent of the vote against incumbent Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the PPP with 42.9 percent, according to the JTBC exit poll.

In the southeastern city of Busan, DP candidate Jeon Jae-soo was expected to win with 53.9 percent against the PPP's Park Heong-joon, the JTBC poll showed.

Wednesday's elections were held exactly one year after the Lee administration took office on June 4, 2025. A clear victory for the ruling party would likely solidify the government's mandate to push forward with its reform measures.

Also up for grabs in Wednesday's elections were 14 National Assembly seats in parliamentary by-elections held simultaneously.

Exit polls were conducted only in two key battlegrounds in the parliamentary by-elections -- Busan's Buk-A constituency and the Pyeongtaek-B constituency.

For the high-stakes race for the Buk-A constituency, the broadcasters projected different outcomes.

The JTBC exit poll projected former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon to clinch the seat with 48.1 percent against the DP's Ha Jung-woo at 37.6 percent. Ha is a former presidential secretary to Lee for artificial intelligence policy and future planning.

The KBS-MBC-SBS exit poll showed Ha expected to win with 42.6 percent against Han's 41.6 percent.

Meanwhile in Pyeongtaek, the KBS-MBC-SBS exit poll expected Cho Kuk, leader of the liberal Rebuilding Korea Party, to win by a razor-thin margin with 31.1 percent of the vote against Yu Eui-dong of the PPP at 30.6 percent and Kim Yong-nam of the DP at 30.3 percent.

The JTBC exit poll, however, projected the DP's Kim to win with 34.2, ahead of Cho at 31.6 percent.