SEOUL
South Korea’s main opposition party narrowly came out on top in local elections, it emerged Thursday morning, as the country voted en masse for the first time since President Park Geun-hye took office last year.
The New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) won nine of the 17 major metropolitan and provincial contests in Wednesday’s nationwide vote, with the ruling Saenuri Party failing to win back the Seoul mayoral post it lost in 2011.
Mayor Park Won-soon of the NPAD held his seat in the Korean capital with a resounding victory over Saenuri candidate Chung Mong-joon, a son of Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung.
The position of Seoul mayor is sometimes viewed as a forerunner to South Korea’s presidency, as demonstrated by Park’s predecessor Lee Myung-bak in 2007.
This year’s elections gained added attention because they came amid widespread criticism of the government’s response to a ferry disaster on April 16 that left more than 300 people dead or missing -- voter turnout reached an estimated 16-year-high at nearly 57 percent.
Chung’s Seoul popularity was suspected to have been damaged by comments by his youngest son in an online post April 21, that the public sentiment over the Sewol ferry tragedy was "incredibly uncivilized."
The Internet post had been a response to anger directed at President Park and Prime Minister Chung Hong-won -- who subsequently announced his resignation -- when they attempted to personally offer assurances to family members of Sewol victims.
Mayor Park told reporters at his campaign office after learning of his re-election that the result was "the victory of all whom in their grief over the Sewol demanded fundamental change."
Saenuri, however, still won eight of the 17 key elections, illustrating that the main opposition NPAD had not taken advantage of public sentiment to the extent that some had expected.
Yoon Sang-hyun, the ruling camp’s secretary general, told reporters: "I believe we put up a good defense even in the midst of the Sewol disaster. Our determination and sincerity to build a new Republic of Korea came through."
Both main rival parties had made safety a key aspect of their campaigns, with the Saenuri side asking for a "second chance" following a tearful public apology by their former leader, President Park.
Nevertheless, liberal and opposition-leaning contestants enjoyed a clear advantage in contests to pick regional education chiefs -- winning 13 out of 17 of those races just weeks after hundreds of high school students had been among the Sewol ferry victims.
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