Ruling DP poised for victory in local elections, exit polls show

By Yi Wonju

SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Democratic Party (DP) was poised to win Wednesday's local elections, with exit polls showing the liberal party ahead in most key races against the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), an outcome that could set the tone for President Lee Jae Myung's second year in office.

The DP was projected to win at least 10 of the 16 metropolitan mayoral and gubernatorial posts at stake, according to a JTBC exit poll. A separate exit poll by KBS, MBC and SBS showed the DP winning 11 of the 16 key races.

Both polls showed the PPP was leading in just one race -- the governorship of North Gyeongsang Province.

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

Wednesday's elections were held exactly one year after the Lee administration took office on June 4.

A clear victory for the ruling party would likely solidify the government's mandate to push forward with its reform measures, while dealing a blow to the embattled PPP as it struggles to rebuild conservative support following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's ouster.

It would also mark a sharp turnaround in voter sentiment from four years earlier, when the then ruling PPP had claimed 12 out of 17 major gubernatorial and mayoral positions in the last local elections. The 2022 local elections were held a month after Yoon took office.

Also at stake in this year's local elections were 16 education superintendent seats, along with 227 heads of local governments and some 4,000 members of local councils.

Among the key battlegrounds for the local elections, 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 Gyeonggi Province, veteran DP lawmaker Choo Mi-ae was leading the exit poll by a wide margin with 60.4 percent, against the PPP's Yang Hyang-ja at 34.1 percent. If confirmed, Choo would become the country's first female head of a provincial government.

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

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.

Also up for grabs were 14 parliamentary seats in closely watched by-elections across the country, including races in Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, Daegu and Busan.

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

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 independent Han Dong-hoon, a former PPP leader, 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.

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.

The results will determine whether Han and Cho, both widely considered to be potential presidential contenders, will secure seats at the National Assembly.

The elections are widely seen as the first nationwide test for Lee, who was elected in a snap presidential election following the ouster of Yoon over his botched martial law bid in December 2024.

Throughout its election campaign, the DP had urged the public to make a stern judgment on what it called the "remnants" of Yoon's "insurrectionist forces."

Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment by a district court in February for his failed martial law bid.

The exit polls and early ballot counts by the NEC suggested the DP was headed for a sweeping victory, though recent surveys had shown races tightening with the PPP in recent weeks.

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 had sought to shore up conservative support as it attempted to rebuild the conservative bloc amid declining public support and growing internal rifts in the aftermath of Yoon's failed martial law bid.

Early polls, however, suggested the embattled party could face mounting challenges going forward.

This year's elections were partly marred by an unprecedented shortage of ballots at 14 polling stations in parts of Seoul, prompting the temporary suspension of voting there, with some voters said to have left without voting.

The PPP was quick to raise issues over poor election management, calling on the NEC to immediately stop the vote counting and hold a revote if necessary.

Winners were expected to emerge around midnight, with results in closely contested races to come well past midnight and possibly into early Thursday partly due to delays caused by the ballot shortage.

Voting took place from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 14,288 polling centers nationwide, with the exception of one of the affected polling stations in Songpa Ward, which extended the voting hours to 10 p.m.