With approximately 50 days remaining until the June 3 local elections, the People Power Party (PPP) has no preliminary candidates registered in 45 district head races across the country, raising concerns among conservatives that the ruling party could lose local power entirely to the opposition.
According to an analysis by The Seoul Economic Daily of National Election Commission candidate registration data as of April 10, the PPP had zero preliminary candidates in 78 of the nation's 227 district head constituencies. Even after excluding areas where incumbent district heads have been nominated or are preparing to run without preliminary registration, 45 districts remain without PPP candidates. In Seoul alone, Nowon-gu and Guro-gu have no PPP preliminary candidates. In contrast, the Democratic Party of Korea (DP) failed to field candidates in only 11 districts, mainly in traditionally weak regions such as Daegu, North Gyeongsang and South Gyeongsang provinces.
The gap between the two parties was also evident in total candidate numbers. The DP fielded 570 preliminary candidates across all 227 constituencies, while the PPP registered 415 — 155 fewer than its rival. "Candidates don't trust the competitiveness of a party mired in internal strife, so they are reluctant to run under the PPP banner," said Bae Byung-in, a professor at Kookmin University.
Meanwhile, as of the same date, ruling and opposition matchups have been finalized in five of 16 metropolitan and provincial governor races nationwide: Incheon, Busan, Gangwon, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang. The DP has confirmed candidates in 11 regions, while the PPP has done so in nine.
