The 2011 Seoul mayoral by-election was held on 26 October 2011 after Oh Se-hoon resigned due to his failure in the Seoul Free Lunch Referendum. It was part of the by-elections in 2011.

Background As the controversy over the free school lunch program has not subsided, Mayor of Seoul Oh Se-hoon proposed a local referendum to the Seoul Metropolitan Council to directly ask the citizens' opinions regarding the free school lunch program. But the Metropolitan Council rejected his proposal, finally under the leadership of Mayor Oh, it decided to hold a local referendum on the scope of free school lunch, and the vote was scheduled to take place on 24 August 2011.

On 21 August, Mayor Oh announced three days before the referendum that he would step down if he lost because of unachievable voter turnout not achieved or low approval ratings after counting.

In the referendum held on 24 August, it was not able to count the votes because it was less than the minimum turnout rate of 33.3%. This has raised interest in the timing of Oh's resignation, because the by-election date will vary depending on his resignation date. If he resigns after 30 September 2011, the mayoral by-election will take with the legislative election on 11 April 2012. So the Grand National Party called for him to resign in October 2011. However, Mayor Oh announced his resignation on 26 August.

Selection of candidates Grand National Party Na Kyung-won was the only candidate in the Grand National Party to run alone. Other candidates initially ran, but withdrew.

Pan-opposition The candidate who received the highest support in pan-opposition was Ahn Cheol-soo. However, he was on 6 September 2011, expressed its endorsement of Park Won-soon, a lawyer.

On 3 October 2011, pan-opposition primary were held to claimed unification of opposition candidates. In this primary, Park Won-soon was elected as the single candidate for the pan-opposition bloc by defeating Park Young-sun of the Democratic Party and Choi Kyu-youp of the Democratic Labor Party.

Final candidates Na Kyung-won, member of the National Assembly. (Grand National Party) Bae Il-do, former member of the National Assembly. (Independent) Park Won-soon, a lawyer. (Independent)

Results

By district Districts Na Kyung-won Bae Il-do Park Won-soon Totalvotes Votes % Votes % Votes % Jongno District 31,926 45.63 277 0.40 37,770 53.98 69,973 Jung District 26,564 47.66 210 0.38 28,965 51.97 55,739 Yongsan District50,847 51.83 338 0.35 46,923 47.83 98,108 Seongdong District 54,059 45.33 435 0.37 64,766 54.31 119,260 Gwangjin District 63,128 43.81 514 0.36 80,449 55.83 144,091 Dongdaemun District 65,140 45.24 614 0.43 78,221 54.33 143,975 Jungnang District 68,501 44.76 676 0.44 83,870 54.80 153,047 Seongbuk District 81,902 42.74 743 0.39 108,976 56.87 191,621 Gangbuk District 54,531 42.57 555 0.43 72,981 56.97 128,097 Dobong District 64,110 44.88 567 0.40 78,179 54.73 142,856 Nowon District 104,251 44.08 955 0.40 131,293 55.52 236,499 Eunpyeong District 78,252 42.65 712 0.39 104,533 56.97 183,497 Seodaemun District 55,181 43.04 495 0.39 72,542 56.58 128,218 Mapo District 67,297 42.01 511 0.32 92,375 57.67 160,183 Yangcheon District 89,227 45.98 1,052 0.54 103,780 53.48 194,059 Gangseo District 95,934 44.14 874 0.40 120,537 55.46 217,345 Guro District 71,850 43.15 646 0.39 94,015 56.46 166,511 Geumcheon District 36,194 41.12 402 0.46 51,418 58.42 88,014 Yeongdeungpo District 73,833 46.01 567 0.35 86,069 53.64 160,469 Dongjak District 73,341 43.60 583 0.35 94,283 56.05 168,207 Gwanak District 78,473 36.86 857 0.40 133,587 62.74 212,917 Seocho District111,014 60.12 488 0.26 73,139 39.61 184,641 Gangnam District140,109 61.33 672 0.29 87,657 38.37 228,438 Songpa District140,183 51.12 947 0.35 133,087 48.53 274,217 Gangdong District 92,033 47.98 718 0.37 99,061 51.65 191,812 Total 1,867,880 46.21 15,408 0.38 2,158,476 53.41 4,041,764

References