The 2021 South Korean by-elections were held in South Korea on 7 April 2021. The National Election Commission announced on 2 March 2021, that the by-elections would be held for 21 public offices or electoral districts, including 2 Metropolitan mayors, 2 Municipal mayors, 8 Metropolitan Council constituencies, and 9 Municipal Council constituencies. Candidate registration ran from 18 to 19 March, and the list of candidates was confirmed on 26 March.
Voters in the by-elections were able to access early voting from 06:00–18:00 KST on 2 and 3 April. One early voting place was established for each district or county of the region where the re-election was conducted, and voters could vote at any pre-voting place in the district where the re-election was conducted, regardless of their address. But on election day, voters had to vote at their designated polling place, and the voting time was from 6 a.m. to 8 pm.
The election concluded with the mayors of Seoul and Busan, which are the largest city and the second-largest city in South Korea, respectively, being selected via by-election. The two major political parties, the Democratic Party and the People Power Party, were concentrating on these by-elections, as they believed that the outcome would have a great impact on the 2022 presidential election. The Democratic Party's candidate Park Young-sun, endorsed by Kim Jinai (Open Democratic Party) and Cho Jung-hun (Transition Korea), became the unity candidate of the ruling coalition. For the opposition, the People Power Party's Oh Se-hoon became the unity candidate, endorsed by Ahn Cheol-soo (People Party) and Keum Tae-seop (Independent).
Reasons for by-elections The reasons and offices (constituencies) for by-elections are as follows:
Metropolitan mayors and governors Mayor of Seoul: Park Won-soon (Democratic), Incumbent died. Mayor of Busan: Oh Keo-don (Democratic), Incumbent resigned.
Municipal mayors Ulsan, Mayor of Nam District: Kim Jin-gyu (Democratic), Incumbent was removed from office by judge's ruling. South Gyeongsang, Mayor of Uiryeong county: Lee Seon-du (People Power), Incumbent was removed from office by judge's ruling
Members of Metropolitan Council Seoul, Gangbuk 1st electoral district : Kim Dong-sik (Democratic), Incumbent was removed from office by judge's ruling. Gyeonggi, Guri 1st electoral district : Seo Hyeong-ryeol (Democratic), Incumbent died. North Chungcheong, Boeun at-large electoral district: Park Jae-wan (Independent), Incumbent resigned. South Jeolla, Suncheon 1st electoral district: Kim Gi-tae (Democratic), Incumbent died. South Jeolla, Goheung 2nd electoral district: Park Geum-rae (Democratic), Incumbent died. South Gyeongsang, Goseong 1st electoral district: Lee Ok-cheol (Democratic), Incumbent was removed from office by judge's ruling. South Gyeongsang, Uiryeong at-large electoral district: Son Ho-hyeon (People Power), Incumbent resigned. South Gyeongsang, Hamyang at-large electoral district: Im Jae-gu (People Power), Incumbent died.
Members of Municipal Council Yeongdeungpo Council, Seoul – F electoral district: Heo Hong-seok (Democratic), Incumbent lost his/her right to be elected. Songpa Council, Seoul – D electoral district: Kim Jang-hwan (Democratic), Incumbent died. Ulju Council, Ulsan – B electoral district: Park Jeong-ok (Democratic), Incumbent died. Paju Council, Gyeonggi – A electoral district: Ahn So-hui (Progressive), Incumbent lost his/her right to be elected. Yesan Council, South Chungcheong – D electoral district: Yu Yeong-bae (People Power), Incumbent was removed from office by judge's ruling. Gimje Council, North Jeolla – B electoral district: On Ju-hyeon (Independent), Incumbent resigned. Boseong Council, South Jeolla – C electoral district: Chung Gwang-sik (Democratic), Incumbent lost his/her right to be elected. Uiryeong Council, South Gyeongsang – D electoral district: Son Tae-yeong (People Power), Incumbent resigned. Haman Council, South Gyeongsang – C electoral district: Kim Jeong-seon (People Power), Incumbent lost his/her right to be elected.
Issues Amendment of Democratic Party's constitution The Democratic Party's constitution states that it cannot nominate any by-election candidates if the party caused the situation that made the by-election necessary. The Democratic Party held a vote on to their members on amending the party's constitution and almost 87 percent voted in favor of the change. The main opposition party, People Power Party, criticized the Democratic Party's decision, accusing it of revictimizing the women who were allegedly sexually harassed by the late mayor and former mayor. People Power Party interim leader Kim Jong-in said "President Moon is trying to reverse the so-called 'Moon Jae-in article', which was created while he was the party leader", calling on the president to publicly take a position on the envisioned revision of the party rules.
Resignation of Yoon Suk-yeol
The ruling Democratic Party have been speeding up the creation of a new investigative agency to weaken the power of the prosecution service. This move was followed by the establishment of Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. Yoon Suk-yeol, who had clashed with the Moon administration and Democratic Party, publicly opposed the idea of separating powers of investigation and prosecution. Minister of Justice Park Beom-kye said he will gather various opinions from members of the prosecution on establishing an agency that would handle serious crimes. On 4 March 2021, Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol announced his resignation in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in protest against the government's push to weaken the power of the prosecution service. On the same day, President Moon Jae-in accepted the resignation.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun has expressed regret over the resignation. The main opposition People Power Party's interim leader Kim Chong-in said he would meet with Yoon if he wants to. On the other hand, leader of the Democratic Party Lee Nak-yon has criticized Yoon, saying his resignation "out of the blue" was absurd for a public official. But, Democratic Party's approval rating plunged to a record low since the 2017 inauguration of the Moon Jae-in government. Gallup Korea said the decrease in the Democratic Party's approval rating apparently came with its recent conflict with former Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol over creating a new investigative agency to take over the prosecution's investigative powers. Public support for Yoon Suk-yeol rose sharply to take the lead over other potential presidential candidates in South Korea. Some political critics analyzed that Yoon Seok-youl became a big variable in the 2021 by-elections.
LH scandal A property speculation scandal involving employees in South Korea's top housing agency, the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), emerged in March 2021, becoming a factor in the by-elections. The scandal involved 20 LH workers allegedly acting on insider information to buy undeveloped farmland near a new town development project in the Seoul region since April 2018, before the announcement of the project. There was public uproar as the scandal emerged amidst an ongoing housing affordability crisis in South Korea. Median apartment prices in Seoul have soared nearly 60% since President Moon came into office in May 2017, despite repeated property price cooling measures implemented by the Moon administration. As a result, President Moon's approval ratings sank to 34%, the lowest approval rating of his term after the scandal emerged along with the administration's clash with the prosecution.
Mayor of Seoul
Background
Death of Park Won-soon The death of Park Won-soon, the mayor of the largest city in South Korea, was hugely impactful on the 2021 by-elections. This was even more shocking to South Koreans because he was a noted women's rights activist. He fought against authoritarian rule in South Korea and was put in prison in the 1970s as a college student. After becoming a lawyer, he took on many cases related to women's rights. It was his well-known achievement that he won South Korea's first sexual harassment case. So, it was seen as a shock that the person who had been fighting for women rights committed suicide after his female employee accused him of sexual harassment.
Increased attention of female candidates
Because of the sexual harassment incidents of incumbent mayors, each political party paid attention to female candidates. In December 2020, the majority of the potential candidates in Seoul are women, showing the rival parties' bid to promote themselves as women-friendly. Three women (Na Kyung-won, Cho Eun-hee and Lee Hye-hoon) from the main opposition People Power Party have announced their Seoul mayoral bids. The possible female candidates from the Democratic side are Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun and Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Chairwoman Jeon Hyun-hee. In addition, political parties are considering adding or increasing women's additional points to the primary rules. The Democratic Party maintained the existing 10–25% of the women's additional point, and the People Power Party decided to reflect the women's additional points at 10% in the main primary race and 20% in the preliminary primary race.
Connection between 2011 by-election and 2021 by-election In 2011, South Korea held a by-election to fill vacant Seoul Mayor. Mayor Oh Se-hoon who was incumbent from 2006 to 2011 staked his mayoralty on Seoul free lunch referendum. Oh Se-hoon opposed to give free meals to all children, insisting that free lunch policy is "populism", and promised that he will resign if the outcome of referendum is not in favor of his 'selective' policy. However, the referendum which turnout have to be exceed one third of electorate was invalidated by low turnout. Eventually, Mayor Oh resigned on 26 August 2011, as promised and 2011 South Korean by-elections were held in Seoul for his replacement.
Park Won-soon, who become Mayor of Seoul for Oh Se-hoon's replacement, had started as the underdog at the early phase. Then, Independent frontline runner Ahn Cheol-soo who had been a strong supporter of Park Won-soon's famous civic group endorsed him for Mayor of Seoul. Thanks to the support of Ahn Cheol-soo, Park Won-soon overtaken Na Kyung-won, the frontline runner of the ruling Grand National Party, in a poll.
On 27 September 2011, Na Kyung-won who worked as the GNP's spokeswoman from 2006 to 2008 was nominated as the GNP candidate. Meanwhile, the opposition coalition unified the candidate. Independent candidate Park Won-soon, Democratic candidate Park Young-sun and Democratic Labor candidate Choi Gyu-yeop participated in the candidate unification primary, and Park Won-soon won the primary and became the nominee of the opposition coalition. On 26 October 2011, Park Won-soon was elected by 7.19%, winning 53.40% of the votes. On the other hand, Na Kyung-won won 46.21% of the votes and become second place. So, there is a saying that it is similar to the 2011 by-election in that Park Young-sun, Na Kyung-won, Oh Se-hoon, and Ahn Chul-soo, who were involved in the 2011 mayoral by-election, are running for the Seoul mayoral by-election in 2021.
Registered candidates