'Public Sentiment Barometer' Incheon and Chungcheong Also Show Overwhelming Victory for the Democratic Party of Korea

Democratic Party Candidates Win 11 of 13 Seats in Incheon and 20 of 28 Seats in Chungcheong Region

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Democratic Party of Korea's momentum was strong even in Incheon and the Chungcheong region, known as the "public sentiment barometer." The reason these areas are called the barometer of general election results is that their population structure closely resembles that of the entire country. The population distribution by age group from 10s to 60s in Incheon differs from the national average by less than 1 percentage point.

In past general elections, the party that won in Incheon often became the ruling party. In the 17th general election in 2004, when the Uri Party secured a majority, it won 9 out of 12 seats. In the 18th general election, the Grand National Party (now the People Power Party) swept the seats with a 9 (Saenuri Party) to 2 (United Democratic Party) ratio. In the closely contested 2012 general election, the result was 6 (Saenuri Party) to 6 (Democratic United Party), and in the 20th general election in 2016, the results were nearly even with 6 (Saenuri Party) and 7 (Democratic Party of Korea).

The 21st general election reflected public sentiment similarly. Out of 13 constituencies in Incheon, the Democratic Party won 11. In Yeonsu-eul, where the race was tight until the end, Democratic Party candidate Jeong Il-young narrowly defeated the incumbent Min Kyung-wook. The Democratic Party also swept Yeonsu-gap (Park Chan-dae), Bupyeong-gap (Lee Seong-man), Bupyeong-eul (Hong Young-pyo), Gyeyang-gap (Yoo Dong-soo), Gyeyang-eul (Song Young-gil), Seo-gu-eul (Shin Dong-geun), Dong-gu & Michuhol-gap (Heo Jong-sik), Namdong-gap (Maeng Sung-kyu), Namdong-eul (Yoon Kwan-seok), and Seo-gu-gap (Kim Gyo-heung). The United Future Party's Bae Jun-young was the only winner in Jung-gu, Ganghwa, and Ongjin, and Yoon Sang-hyun, who left the United Future Party and ran as an independent in Dong-gu & Michuhol-eul, secured a seat in the National Assembly.

In the Chungcheong region, several areas showed extremely close races, but the Democratic Party won 20 out of 28 seats. The United Future Party secured only 8 seats. The Democratic Party's dominance is interpreted as a result of many voters judging the current government's response to the domestic COVID-19 situation as effective. Although the United Future Party aggressively promoted anti-Moon Jae-in sentiment under the banner of regime checks, it ultimately failed to be recognized as a viable alternative force.

In Daejeon and Sejong, the Democratic Party swept all seats. Hwang Un-ha, a former head of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office and a leading figure in prosecutorial reform, narrowly defeated United Future Party candidate Lee Eun-gwon by 2,808 votes (2.2 percentage points) after a late-night battle, securing all seven constituencies for the Democratic Party. Park Beom-gye, Jo Seung-rae, Lee Sang-min, and Park Byeong-seok also retained their seats in the National Assembly.

In Sejong, Democratic Party candidate Hong Seong-guk, a former CEO of Mirae Asset Daewoo, secured an early victory in Sejong-gap with a 24 percentage point lead. In Sejong-eul, Democratic Party candidate Kang Jun-hyun defeated United Future Party candidate Kim Byung-joon, who was considered a potential next presidential candidate, by 14,507 votes (18.3 percentage points).

The Democratic Party also narrowly won in the fiercely contested Chungbuk and Chungnam regions. In Chungbuk's seven constituencies, the Democratic Party won five seats, while the Democratic United Party won three, creating a completely reversed pattern compared to the 20th National Assembly election results. In the previous general election, the Saenuri Party, the predecessor of the United Future Party, won five seats, and the Democratic Party won three. Democratic Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-eon, who gained attention as the late President Roh Moo-hyun's son-in-law, failed to overcome the incumbent premium of United Future Party candidate Park Deok-heum.

In Chungnam's 11 constituencies, the Democratic Party won six seats, and the Democratic United Party won five. In Gongju-Buyeo-Cheongyang, former Blue House spokesperson Park Soo-hyun of the Democratic Party failed to defeat incumbent lawmaker Jeong Jin-seok of the Democratic United Party, but Democratic Party candidate Moon Jin-seok, a former member of the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development's Public Communication Committee, narrowly defeated Democratic United Party candidate Shin Beom-cheol in Cheonan-gap by 1,328 votes (1.4 percentage points).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.