South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s Democratic Party has suffered devastating defeats in elections for the mayors of the country’s two biggest cities, results showed on Thursday, amid political scandals and policy blunders.
The election on Wednesday was widely seen a key barometer for potential political shifts for Moon’s progressive party with less than one year left before a March 9 presidential election.
The mayoral posts, both held by Democratic Party members, became vacant last year as a result of sexual harassment allegations, with Seoul mayor Park Won-soon killing himself while the leader of the southern port of Busan resigned.