Ruling party wins local elections, voters back President Lee Jae Myung

Voters show support for President Lee Jae Myung; PPP must work to survive

A year after Lee Jae Myung won the presidency in a snap election, voters cast ballots for local elections, largely supporting candidates of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

In selecting 4,227 leaders for local offices, including 16 metropolitan and provincial heads of government, voters appear to have given a stamp of approval for the Lee administration's performance and expressed continuing disappointment with the conservative opposition.

Joint exit polls conducted by the nation's three main broadcasters — SBS, KBS and MBC — announced at 6 p.m. that DPK candidates were in the lead in 11 of the races for the nation's 16 major metropolitan and provincial offices. The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) was definitively leading only in the North Gyeongsang Province gubernatorial race, with Lee Cheol-woo of the PPP garnering an estimated 69.7 percent of the vote, according to the 6 p.m. exit poll.

In the Seoul mayor race, DPK candidate Chong Won-o was leading incumbent Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the PPP, 51.4 percent to 46 percent. The Busan mayoral race saw Chun Jae-soo of the DPK just slightly ahead at 50.2 percent, while his opponent, incumbent Mayor Park Heong-joon of the PPP, came in at 48.3 percent. In Daegu, the race for mayor was extremely tight, with the PPP's Choo Kyung-ho leading the DPK's Kim Boo-kyum in exit polls, 49.9 percent to 49.1 percent.

Early predictions seem to indicate that voters have confidence in President Lee, his administration and its agenda, providing support for its pursuit of artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouse status, balanced national growth and a stock market boost, as well as its approach to sensitive security matters. The ruling camp may celebrate today, but must reset itself to serve its constituents and the nation. Hints of arrogance and complacency in the ruling camp have taken a toll in the past. The PPP must reinvent itself to regain relevancy as a political party that can constructively represent the ideas of conservatives.

Among the by-elections, the Busan Buk-A district race was one of the most interesting, with the tight race between former PPP Chairman Han Dong-hoon and former adviser to the president on AI Ha Jung-woo one of the most closely watched.

An egregious mistake on the part of the National Election Commission at polling stations in Songpa, Gangnam and Gwangjin districts and Incheon resulted in ballot shortages. The commission attributed it to the higher-than-expected voter turnout, but with early voting having peaked at 23.5 percent, the explanation does not stand. This is a major violation of voters' rights. Authorities must find out what occurred and call to account those responsible.

Hopefully and wisely by Thursday morning, a new set of elected leaders will look to tackle the challenges of Korean democracy. They should look toward the future, turning pledges into real policies and benefits.

The new leaders will all have to alleviate the burdens on people's daily lives stemming from the Middle East crisis, and particularly the "three highs" of inflation, interest rates and foreign exchange rates. AI technology development and trade issues have taken on an urgency seldom seen even a year ago.

Political parties compete on all levels, yet they must also cooperate and compromise on urgent national issues in the post-election period for the sake of national interest.

In addition to economic challenges, they will need to direct their attention to the new security landscape spurred by the U.S.-China rivalry and the growing coziness between North Korea, Russia and China.