hankyoreh

Oct. 27. (Photo by Kim Bong-gyu)

The ruling party's bruising defeat in Wednesday's by-election for Seoul mayor represents yet another blow to the unpopular party, a setback to its leading presidential contender and, more broadly, a punishment of the existing political establishment, analysts said.

With nearly all ballots counted, opposition-backed candidate Park Won-soon, a lawyer-turned-activist, defeated his rival Na Kyung-won of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) to win the mayoralty with 53.4 percent of the vote against Na's 46.2 percent.

Park, 55, will succeed former Mayor Oh Se-hoon who voluntarily quit in late August after losing a high-stakes referendum on an opposition-led free school lunch program. He will serve out Oh's remaining term of two and a half years.

Though technically a small regional election, Wednesday's vote was considered a crucial test of voter sentiment ahead of next year's two big polls -- the parliamentary elections in April and the presidential vote in December. It will be the first time in 20 years that the two major elections happen in the same year.

The result marked the second time in six months that the GNP has suffered election defeats.

(Yonhap News)