hankyoreh

A voter casts their ballot for the Seoul mayoral by-election Wednesday. (Kim Myung-jin/The Hankyoreh)

South Korea's by-election Wednesday wasn't a landslide victory for the opposition party so much as it was a crushing defeat for the ruling party. That defeat extended across all classes, regions, and age groups. Three years ago, Democratic Party candidate Park Won-soon prevailed in all of Seoul's 25 districts. But this time around, People Power Party (PPP) candidate Oh Se-hoon swept all those districts.

Exit polls showed Democratic Party candidate Park Young-sun trailing Oh in all age groups except for people in their 40s. This dramatic reversal of fortunes for the Democratic Party – which won a supermajority of 180 seats in the National Assembly in the general election just one year ago – means that previous supporters of the Democratic Party have either defected or didn't show up at the polls.

The Hankyoreh spoke with around 70 people who describe themselves as supporters of the Democratic Party or sympathetic to it. A considerable number of these people either voted for another party or abstained from voting in this election. Others said they voted for the Democratic Party with reservations.

"My life hasn't changed"

"There are a lot of people who have been disappointed over the past three years. People in their 20s are having a harder time, and things have been getting worse for low-income earners under this administration. That had an impact on the election," said a 53-year-old businessperson surnamed Hong, who identifies as a progressive.

"Have conditions improved for people on the lowest rungs of society under the Moon administration?" queried a woman in her 40s surnamed Park.

A 44-year-old small business owner surnamed Jang reported voting for Oh. "I don't think that Oh will do a good job. This administration is just so incompetent. And I was one of the people who came out for every candlelit rally," Jang said, referring to anti-government protests in late 2016 that led to the impeachment of a conservative president.

Anxiety about real estate was pervasive both among those who own a house and those who don't. A 40-year-old resident of Seoul's Dongjak District who hopes to move to Gangnam opted not to vote in this election. "I couldn't bring myself to vote for the Democratic Party, but I couldn't vote for Oh Se-hoon either. The natural desire to move to a different neighborhood as you enter a different stage in your life has suddenly been branded as evil," this person said.

Other people said they'd voted for the Democratic Party despite all its flaws. "I sold my house because I trusted President Moon. That house is now worth two and half times what it used to be. I'm no longer a homeowner, and my friends make fun of me," said a 42-year-old resident of Mapo District.

While punishing the ruling party was a dominant theme in this election, some voters were particularly upset with Park Young-sun. "Park was focused on winning the election but showed few indications of how she intended to develop Seoul. There was nothing progressive about her. Her pledges to allow apartment redevelopment and to cut taxes sounded exactly like Oh Se-hoon," said a 39-year-old voter surnamed Kim.

A 22-year-old university student took issue with Park's promises to give young people 5 gigabytes of data a month and a 40% discount on bus and subway tickets. "It sounded like a candidate for class president promising to buy everyone hamburgers. It felt like she was insulting young people."

Quite a few people objected to the attitude that the ruling party displayed in the election. "I've always supported the Democratic Party, but I was disappointed that they revised the party charter and rules so they could run candidates in this election," said a 40-year-old office worker surnamed Yun.

The party's original rules forbade the party from fielding candidates if the incumbents had left office because of serious misbehavior.

"If the party was just going to be trounced anyway, they really ought to have shown some remorse and sat out of the election as they'd promised," said a 28-year-old woman surnamed Kim who is currently looking for a job.

"It was nauseating to see party members pontificating about historical attitudes while taking great pains to look after their own property," said a 40-year-old woman surnamed Park, complaining about the party's hypocritical behavior.

Whether or not they voted for the Democratic Party, the people who spoke with the Hankyoreh had mixed feelings about the outcome. But they agreed that it's time for the Democratic Party to show some remorse and reflect upon its actions.

"It's atrocious how little they've accomplished with 180 seats [in the National Assembly]. What's even more disturbing is that these election results might turn out to be a red card rather than a yellow card," said a woman in her forties surnamed Shin.

A 44-year-old public servant surnamed Kim still feels some affection for the party. "The Democratic Party has gotten a good scolding, so hopefully, they'll get their act together now."

"Voters used this election to berate the Democratic Party and tell it to sort things out. The party's ability to make a comeback will depend on its actions going forward," said a 40-year-old irregular worker surnamed Jeong.

By Kim Young-hee, staff reporter

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