Who were the real progressive and conservative candidates?

Chung Hyo-shik

The author is the social news editor at the JoongAng Ilbo.

The June 3 local elections were unusually difficult for voters. Depending on where they lived, voters cast ballots for governors, education superintendents, mayors, county chiefs, district heads, metropolitan and local council members, as well as candidates in 14 parliamentary by-elections. Some received as many as eight ballots.

Election posters for candidates running for Seoul mayor, Seoul superintendent of education, district mayor, Seoul Metropolitan Council and district council seats cover the exterior wall of a building in Seoul’s Mapo District on June 2, one day before voting in the ninth nationwide local elections. [NEWS1]

National political issues also shaped the vote. The election was widely viewed as a test of whether voters would support or check the Lee Jae Myung administration, while attention also focused on Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae, People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok and the political futures of figures such as Han Dong-hoon and Cho Kuk.