2018 South Korean local elections

The 7th local elections were held in South Korea on 13 June 2018. The election coincided with the by-elections for the vacant seats in the National Assembly.^[1] The election was a landslide victory for the Democratic Party of Korea, the ruling party, after two successful summits with the third inter-Korean summit on 27 April and the first North Korea-United States summit in Singapore on 12 June.^[2]

2018 South Korean local elections

← 2014 13 June 2018 2022 →
All 17 metropolitan mayors and governors (All 3,977 seats of provincial and municipal leaders and councillors)
Turnout	60.2% 3.4 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Choo Mi-ae Hong Jun-pyo Cho Bae-sook Party Democratic Liberty Korea Democracy and Peace Regional offices 8 governors 6 met. mayors 1 governors 1 met. mayors 0 Regional offices +/– 3 governors 2 met. mayors 2 governors 3 met. mayors New party Mayors 151 53 5 Mayors +/– 71 64 New party Councillors 652 (P) 1,638 (M) 137 (P) 1009 (M) 3 (P) 49 (M) Councillors +/– 303 (P) 481 (M) 279 (P) 404 (M) New party   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Lee Jeong-mi Yoo Seung-min (pictured) Park Joo-sun Party Justice Bareunmirae Regional offices 0 0 Regional offices +/– 0 New party Mayors 0 0 Mayors +/– 0 New party Councillors 11 (P) 26 (M) 5 (P) 21 (M) Councillors +/– 11 (P) 15 (M) New party
Gubernatorial & metropolitan mayoral elections: overall results and turnouts Gubernatorial & metropolitan mayoral elections: municipal-level breakdown

Results summary of gubernatorial (top left), municipal mayoral (top right), metropolitan and provincial councilors (bottom left), and municipal councilors (bottom right)

Metropolitan mayors and governors

A total of 17 metropolitan mayors and governors were elected.

Candidates

Bold indicates that a candidate won as metropolitan mayor or governor.

Metropolitan city/province	Democratic	Liberty Korea	Bareunmirae	Democracy and Peace	Justice	Others
Seoul	Park Won-soon	Kim Moon-soo	Ahn Cheol-soo		Kim Jong-min	Kim Jin-sook (Minjung) In Jie-yeun (Korean Patriots) Sin Jie-ye (Green)
Busan	Oh Keo-don	Suh Byung-soo	Lee Sung-guen [ko]		Park Joo-mi	Lee Jong-hyuk [ko] (Independent)
Daegu	Im Dae-yun [ko]	Kwon Young-jin	Kim hyung-gi
Incheon	Park Nam-chun	Yoo Jung-bok [ko]	Moon Byung-ho [ko]		Kim Eung-ho
Gwangju	Lee Yong-seop		Jeon Duk-young		Na Gyung-che	Yoon Min-ho (Minjung)
Daejeon	Heo Tae-jeong	Park Sung-hyo [ko]	Nam Choung-hee [ko]		Kim Yoon-gi
Ulsan	Song Cheol-ho	Kim Ki-hyun	Lee Young-hee			Kim Chang-hyun [ko] (Minjung)
Sejong	Lee Choon-hee	Song Ae-yong	Hu Chul-hue
Gyeonggi	Lee Jae-myung	Nam Kyung-pil	Kim Yung-hwan		Lee Hong-ue	Hong Seong-gyu (Minjung)
Gangwon	Choi Moon-soon	Jung Chang-soo [ko]
North Chungcheong	Lee Si-jong	Park Kyung-guk [ko]	Shin Yong-han
South Chungcheong	Yang Seung-jo	Lee In-je
North Jeolla	Song Ha-jin	Shin Jae-bong		Im Jung-yeop	Kwon Tae-hong	Lee Kwang-seok (Minjung)
South Jeolla	Kim Yung-rok		Park Mae-ho	Min Young-sam	Noh Hyung-tae	Lee Sung-soo (Minjung)
North Gyeongsang	Oh Joong-gi [ko]	Lee Cheol-woo	Kwon Oe-eul		Park Chang-ho	Yoo Jae-hi (Korean Patriots)
South Gyeongsang	Kim Kyoung-soo	Kim Tae-ho	Kim Yoo-geun
Jeju	Moon Dae-rim [ko]	Kim Bang-hoon	Jang Seong-cheol			Won Hee-ryong (Independent) Ko Eun-young (Green)

Results summary

Distribution of elected metropolitan mayors and governors by political party:

  Democratic

  Liberty Korea

  Independent

Bold indicates an incumbent who was re-elected.

Elected metropolitan mayors and governors

Metropolitan city/province	Elected candidate		Party	Remarks
Seoul		Park Won-soon	Democratic	Hold
Incheon		Park Nam-chun	Democratic	Gain
Gyeonggi		Lee Jae-myung	Democratic	Gain
Gangwon		Choi Moon-soon	Democratic	Hold
Daejeon		Heo Tae-jeong	Democratic	Hold
Sejong		Lee Choon-hee	Democratic	Hold
South Chungcheong		Yang Seung-jo	Democratic	Hold
North Chungcheong		Lee Si-jong	Democratic	Hold
Gwangju		Lee Yong-seop	Democratic	Hold
South Jeolla		Kim Yung-rok	Democratic	Hold
North Jeolla		Song Ha-jin	Democratic	Hold
Busan		Oh Keo-don	Democratic	Gain
Ulsan		Song Cheol-ho	Democratic	Gain
South Gyeongsang		Kim Kyoung-soo	Democratic	Gain
Daegu		Kwon Young-jin	Liberty Korea	Hold
North Gyeongsang		Lee Cheol-woo	Liberty Korea	Hold
Jeju		Won Hee-ryong	Independent	Hold

Seoul

2018 Seoul mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Park Won-soon	2,619,497	52.79
	Liberty Korea	Kim Moon-soo	1,158,487	23.34
	Bareunmirae	Ahn Cheol-soo	970,374	19.55
	Green	Sin Jie-ye	82,874	1.67
	Justice	Kim Jong-min	81,664	1.64
	Minjung	Kim Jin-sook	22,134	0.44
	Our Future	Woo In-cheol	11,599	0.23
	Korean Patriots'	Ihn Ji-yeon	11,222	0.22
	Chinbak Yeondae	Choi Tae-hyeon	4,021	0.08
Total valid votes			4,961,872	–
Rejected ballots			57,226	–
Total votes			5,019,098	100.00
	Democratic hold

Incheon

2018 Incheon mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Park Nam-chun	766,186	57.7
	Liberty Korea	Yoo Jung-bok	470,937	35.4
	Bareunmirae	Moon Byung-ho	54,054	4.1
	Justice	Kim Eung-ho	37,472	2.8
Total votes			1,349,084	100.0
	Democratic gain from Liberty Korea

Gyeonggi

2018 Gyeonggi gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lee Jae-myung	3,370,621	56.4
	Liberty Korea	Nam Kyung-pil	2,122,433	35.5
	Bareunmirae	Kim Young-hwan	287,504	4.8
	Justice	Lee Hong-woo	151,871	2.5
	Minjung	Hong Sung-kyu	43,098	0.7
Total votes			6,084,955	100.0
	Democratic gain from Liberty Korea

Gangwon

2018 Gangwon gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Choi Moon-soon	518,447	64.73
	Liberty Korea	Jeong Chang-soo	282,456	35.26
Total valid votes			800,903	–
Rejected ballots			18,290	–
Total votes			819,193	100.00
	Democratic hold

Daejeon

2018 Daejeon mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Heo Tae-jeong	393,354	56.4
	Liberty Korea	Park Sung-hyo	224,306	32.2
	Bareunmirae	Nam Choung-hee	61,271	8.8
	Justice	Kim Yoon-gi	18,351	2.6
Total votes			706,983	100.0
	Democratic hold

Sejong

2018 Sejong mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lee Choon-hee	96,896	71.3
	Liberty Korea	Song Ah-young	24,546	18.1
	Bareunmirae	Heo Chul-hue	14,444	10.6
Total votes			137,603	100.0
	Democratic hold

South Chungcheong

2018 South Chungcheong gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Yang Seung-jo	615,870	62.6
	Liberty Korea	Lee In-je	345,577	35.1
	Let's go Korea	Cha Gook-hwan	23,012	2.4
Total votes			984,459	100.0
	Democratic hold

North Chungcheong

2018 North Chungcheong gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lee Si-jong	468,750	61.2
	Liberty Korea	Park Kyung-guk	227,371	29.7
	Bareunmirae	Shin Yong-han	70,330	9.2
Total votes			782,316	100.0
	Democratic hold

Gwangju

2018 Gwangju mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lee Yong-seop	573,995	84.1
	Justice	Na Gyung-che	40,916	6.0
	Bareunmirae	Jeon Duk-young	34,487	5.1
	Minjung	Yoon Min-ho	33,312	4.9
Total valid votes			682,710	–
Rejected ballots			11,542	–
Total votes			694,252	100.0
	Democratic hold

South Jeolla

2018 South Jeolla gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Yung-rok	807,902	77.1
	Democracy and Peace	Min Young-sam	110,973	10.6
	Minjung	Lee Sung-soo	51,410	4.9
	Bareunmirae	Park Mae-ho	40,287	3.8
	Justice	Noh Hyung-tae	37,433	3.6
Total votes			1,092,107	100.0
	Democratic hold

North Jeolla

2018 North Jeolla gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Song Ha-jin	682,042	70.6
	Democracy and Peace	Lim Chung-yeop	184,728	19.1
	Justice	Kwon Tae-hong	52,496	5.4
	Liberty Korea	Shin Jae-bong	26,374	2.7
	Minjung	Lee Kwang-seok	20,827	2.2
Total votes			996,504	100.0
	Democratic hold

Busan

2018 Busan mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Oh Keo-don	940,469	55.2
	Liberty Korea	Suh Byung-soo	632,806	37.2
	Bareunmirae	Lee Sung-guen	67,502	4.0
	Justice	Park Joo-mi	35,299	2.1
	Independent	Lee Jong-hyuk	26,720	1.6
Total votes			1,727,684	100.0
	Democratic gain from Liberty Korea

Ulsan

2018 Ulsan mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Song Cheol-ho	317,341	52.9
	Liberty Korea	Kim Ki-hyun	240,475	40.1
	Minjung	Kim Chang-hyun	28,621	4.8
	Bareunmirae	Lee Young-hee	13,489	2.3
Total votes			610,698	100.0
	Democratic gain from Liberty Korea

South Gyeongsang

2018 South Gyeongsang gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Kyoung-soo	941,491	52.8
	Liberty Korea	Kim Tae-ho	765,809	43.0
	Bareunmirae	Kim Yoo-geun	75,418	4.2
Total votes			1,819,391	100.0
	Democratic gain from Liberty Korea

Daegu

2018 Daegu mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberty Korea	Kwon Young-jin	619,165	53.7
	Democratic	Lim Dae-yun	458,112	39.8
	Bareunmirae	Kim Hyung-gi	74,955	6.5
Total valid votes			1,152,232	–
Rejected ballots			20,047	–
Total votes			1,172,279	100.0
	Liberty Korea hold

North Gyeongsang

2018 North Gyeongsang gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberty Korea	Lee Cheol-woo	732,785	52.1
	Democratic	Oh Joong-gi	482,564	34.3
	Bareunmirae	Kwon Oe-eul	143,409	10.2
	Justice	Park Chang-ho	47,250	3.4
Total votes			1,457,539	100.0
	Liberty Korea hold

Jeju

2018 Jeju gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Won Hee-ryong	178,255	51.7
	Democratic	Moon Dae-rim	137,901	40.0
	Green	Ko Eun-young	12,188	3.5
	Liberty Korea	Kim Bang-hoon	11,241	3.3
	Bareunmirae	Jang Seong-cheol	5,019	1.5
Total votes			350,943	100.0

Metropolitan and provincial councillors

Distribution of the major party of the metropolitan and provincial councils:

  Democratic

  Liberty Korea

A total of 824 metropolitan and provincial councillors were elected.

Metropolitan city/province	Democratic	Liberty Korea	Justice	Bareunmirae	Democracy and Peace	Independent	Total
Seoul	102	6	1	1			110
Incheon	34	2	1				37
Gyeonggi	135	4	2	1			142
Gangwon	35	11					46
Daejeon	21	1					22
Sejong	17	1					18
South Chungcheong	33	8	1				42
North Chungcheong	28	4					32
Gwangju	22		1				23
South Jeolla	54		2		2		58
North Jeolla	36		1		1	1	39
Busan	41	6					47
Ulsan	17	5					22
South Gyeongsang	34	21	1			2	58
Daegu	5	25					30
North Gyeongsang	9	41		1		9	60
Jeju	29	2	1	2		4	38
Total	652	137	11	5	3	16	824

Municipal mayors

Distribution of elected municipal mayors by political party:

  Democratic

  Liberty Korea

  Democracy and Peace

  Independent

A total of 226 municipal mayors (municipal city, county, autonomous district) were elected.

Metropolitan city/province	Democratic	Liberty Korea	Democracy and Peace	Independent	Total
Seoul	24	1			25
Incheon	9	1			10
Gyeonggi	29	2			31
Gangwon	11	5		2	18
Daejeon	5				5
South Chungcheong	11	4			15
North Chungcheong	7	4			11
Gwangju	5				5
South Jeolla	14		3	5	22
North Jeolla	10		2	2	14
Busan	13	2		1	16
Ulsan	5				5
South Gyeongsang	7	10		1	18
Daegu		7		1	8
North Gyeongsang	1	17		5	23
Total	151	53	5	17	226

Municipal councillors

Distribution of the major party of the municipal councils:

  Democratic

  Liberty Korea

  Independents majority

  No major party

A total of 2,926 municipal councillors (municipal city, county, autonomous district) were elected.

Metropolitan city/province	Democratic	Liberty Korea	Democracy and Peace	Justice	Bareunmirae	Minjung	Independent	Total
Seoul	249	157		5	9		3	423
Incheon	71	46					1	118
Gyeonggi	290	144		5	4	2	2	446
Gangwon	93	63			1		12	169
Daejeon	38	25						63
South Chungcheong	98	66			1		6	171
North Chungcheong	86	43		1			2	132
Gwangju	55		9	1		3		68
South Jeolla	178		26	3		4	32	243
North Jeolla	147		14	6	2		28	197
Busan	103	78					1	182
Ulsan	27	21				1	1	50
South Gyeongsang	104	133		3		1	23	264
Daegu	50	62		1	2		1	116
North Gyeongsang	50	171		1	2		60	284
Total	1,638	1,009	49	26	21	11	172	2,927

See also

• 2018 South Korean by-elections

External links

• National Election Commission Archived 2020-03-26 at the Wayback Machine