Over 500 candidates win local seats unopposed

More than 500 candidates are poised to win office without a vote in South Korea’s June 3 local elections after running unopposed, election officials said Saturday.

According to the National Election Commission, 307 of the country’s 2,349 electoral districts, or 13 percent, were designated uncontested after only one candidate registered to run. Of the 513 candidates in those races, 504 are expected to secure victory automatically following adjustments to the number of proportional and local council seats.

The total marks the second-highest number of uncontested winners in South Korea’s local election history, behind only the 738 recorded in the country’s second local elections. The figure could still change before election day if candidates withdraw.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea accounted for 306 uncontested winners, including three candidates for local government chief posts, among them the mayoral race in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.

In South Jeolla Province and Gwangju, 71 of 72 uncontested winners were Democratic Party candidates, while the remaining seat went to the Progressive Party. In North Jeolla Province and Jeju, 46 and eight Democratic Party candidates, respectively, won without challengers.

The Democratic Party also dominated uncontested races in the region during the 2022 local elections, when 63 candidates in South Jeolla and Gwangju and 62 in North Jeolla secured office unopposed.

The conservative People Power Party recorded 197 uncontested winners nationwide. Unlike four years ago, when the party produced three unopposed candidates for local government chief positions, it failed to secure a single uncontested race for those posts this year.

In Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, collectively known as the TK region and regarded as a conservative stronghold, 61 of 71 uncontested winners, or 85 percent, were affiliated with the People Power Party. In the previous local elections, the party accounted for 68 of the region’s 72 uncontested winners, or 95 percent.

In Seoul, the Democratic Party recorded 61 uncontested winners, compared with 47 for the People Power Party. In the 2022 local elections, the People Power Party led with 63 uncontested winners, while the Democratic Party had 58.

In Gyeonggi Province, 51 Democratic Party candidates won office without opposition, up 24 from four years earlier. The People Power Party recorded 34 uncontested winners in the province, seven more than in the previous election.


이승우 기자 suwoong2@donga.com