Maan faces heavy electoral struggles in South Korea’s largest cities

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President Moon Jae-in’s Democratic Party could head for its biggest defeat in five years in mayoral elections Wednesday in South Korea’s two largest cities, a disturbing sign of its progressive bloc just 11 months before the presidential election.

Surveys show conservatives with leadership leaders in Seoul and Busan midterm elections fueled by public anger over real estate prices in major cities that have soared under the moon.

Losses in the cities, which account for about a quarter of the South Korean population, could slow Moon’s agenda to increase government employment and boost increased fiscal spending. It would also serve as a warning to his Democratic Party that it must overhaul its policies if it is to keep the presidency when Moon’s only five-year term ends in 2022.

In Seoul, Oh Se-hoon, a former mayor who was a candidate for the conservative opposition, was the choice of 50.5% of respondents, while Democratic candidate Park Young-sun, a former start-up minister, was 28.2% , in a survey by Korea Research International, IPSOS and Hankook Research released a week ago, before the official blackout period

In Busan, Park Hyung-jun of the conservative People Power Party was well ahead of Kim Young-choon of Moon’s progressive party, according to a separate survey conducted by the three institutions.

The polls are open until 8pm. As of 3 p.m., voter turnout was 45.2% in Seoul and 40.2% in Busan, slightly lower than at the same time in the last election in 2018, when polls closed two hours earlier, according to the National Election Commission.

Oh, also backed by the PPP, Moon’s government has hailed for tightening redevelopment regulations and limiting building permits over the years, saying the attempt to contain profits by private constructors is a failure is.

Oh resigned as mayor of Seoul in 2011 after losing the battle to curb free student lunches in the capital to cut government spending, sparking criticism at the tight fist. A return to power could signal that public sentiment has soured toward Moon’s economic policies that prioritize wealth redistribution and fiscal aid. Park has also shown that she was unhappy with Moon’s real estate policy and distanced herself from the president.

“If the PPP wins, Moon may become a lame duck and voters may jump further on the People Power Party cart in the coming months,” said Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University in Seoul.

Moon pledged to make housing more affordable when he was elected in 2017, but apartment prices in Seoul have doubled in the past five years, while South Korean salaries have risen by less than 20%, making housing in the capital out of reach for many people. is. some of it in the hands of a few speculators.

Runaway Prices

Apartments in Seoul have become twice as expensive in the last 5 years

Amid the rage over housing, Moon’s support rate hit a new low last week, following allegations that employees of a state-run land corporation were using insider information to monetize housing projects in Seoul. The scandal was the latest in a string of questionable land deals that have dogged the moon’s presidency.

The sliding poll numbers come after Moon and his allies scored a super majority in parliamentary elections about a year ago, based on a wave of public support for their management of the coronavirus crisis. Moon’s party has had a string of victories in the wake of the 2016 impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, a Conservative leader who was later convicted of corruption.

The midterm elections were needed after the mayors in Seoul and Busan, both from Moon’s Democratic Party, faced allegations of sexual harassment, a shame for Moon who has proclaimed himself a feminist president.

– With the help of Sam Kim and Jiyeun Lee

Updates with turnout numbers in sixth paragraph.