In South Korea, votes for the mayoral elections of the capital Seoul and the second city of Busan (Busan), which were positioned as the outpost of the presidential election next year, were held on the 7th, and the candidate for the largest opposition party is Moon Jae-in (Moon Jae-in). Tora) I was elected by suppressing the candidates of the ruling party that supports the administration.
It is said that it will be a big blow to the ruling party, and that the centripetal force of President Mun will inevitably decline.
Voting is done the Seoul mayor election in 7 days, the results of vote counting,
▽ at Oh Se-hoon (Oh Se-hoon) Mr. 57.5 percent of the vote of the largest opposition party of conservative "People's Power",
▽ Moon Park Young-sun (Democratic Party of Korea), an innovative ruling party that supports the Jane administration, was elected by a difference of about 18 points.
Also, in the mayoral election of Busan, the candidate of the largest opposition party was elected with a difference of about 28 points in the voter turnout from the candidate of the ruling party.
In South Korea, as real estate prices continue to rise, especially in the Tokyo metropolitan area, suspicions have surfaced that officials of the Land and Housing Corporation have illegally purchased land that is expected to rise before the announcement of the development plan, and the backlash has spread. ..
As a result, the approval rating of President Mun, who has been advocating the realization of a fair society, has fallen to the lowest 30% level since he took office in 2017, and the ruling party has also been exposed to headwinds.
On the other hand, the largest opposition has appealed for a referee against the Mun administration and has collected a wide range of criticisms against the administration.
Since this election was positioned as a prelude to the presidential election in March next year, it will be a big blow to the ruling party, and it is inevitable that the centripetal force of President Mun, who will leave his term for more than a year, will decline. ..
The background of the ruling party's defeat
The ruling party that supports the Moon Jae-in administration was defeated in the mayoral elections of Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and Busan, the second city. It seems that there was strong public opposition to the allegations.
This election, which was positioned as a prelude to the presidential election in March next year, was a composition in which the ruling party of innovation "Democratic Party of Korea" and the largest opposition party of conservatives "People Power Party" face each other head-on.
In South Korea, real estate prices continue to rise, with prices of condominiums in the Greater Tokyo area nearly doubling in about four years under the Mun administration. The suspicion that I was buying surfaced last month.
As a result, President Mun's approval rating, which has been advocating the elimination of disparities and the realization of a fair society, has fallen to the lowest 30% level since taking office in May 2017, and the ruling party supporting the president has also been exposed to headwinds. ..
Under these circumstances, the largest opposition succeeded in unifying candidates with the third opposition "National Party" of the centrist system in the mayoral election in Seoul.
In the election campaign, he appealed to the Mun administration for a referee and collected a wide range of criticisms against the administration.
In response, the ruling party called for the rallying of supporters in Busan, where President Mun grew up in Seoul, which is said to be the “stronghold” of the innovators, but it did not come before the strong opposition of the citizens.
For the ruling party, which has won major elections in recent years, such as winning the general election in April last year, this defeat is a big blow, and there is a view that the centripetal force of the Mun administration, which has a remaining term of more than a year, is inevitable. It has come out.
On the other hand, in response to the results of this election, both the ruling and opposition parties are expected to accelerate the selection of candidates within the party toward the presidential election, which asks whether the innovative government will continue or the government will change for the first time in five years.
Expert “Resolving concerns between Japan and South Korea is more difficult”
Professor Junya Nishino of Keio University, who is familiar with Korean politics, said that the result of this election was "a big defeat of the ruling party." Losing an important election will accelerate the decline in centripetal force and reduce the ability to push forward with any policy. "
Regarding the impact on Japan-South Korea relations in the future, "In order to resolve the issue of comfort women and the issue of'recruitment', which are concerns about Japan-South Korea relations, it is necessary for President Mun to persuade the people. It must be said that it is difficult to persuade the people as the administration's centripetal force declines further. " Shown.
On the other hand, regarding the presidential election in March next year, he pointed out that "whether the opposition will win the presidential election is another matter. There are no strong candidates in the opposition, so we need to look carefully."
He pointed out that one of the points to watch is whether the opposition party can unify the candidates in this Seoul mayoral election and connect it to the presidential election.