South Korean local elections: Democratic Party leads in Seoul, Busan mayoral races

As vote counting progresses for the June 3 local elections, the Democratic Party appears to be taking an early lead in several key races. In the closely watched Seoul mayoral election, Jung Won-oh of the Democratic Party is currently ahead of Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party. With 29.50% of the ballots tallied as of 00:45 on June 4, Jung has garnered 925,498 votes, representing 59.85% of the total.

Oh Se-hoon trails with 581,169 votes, accounting for 37.58%. The significant lead of 22.27 percentage points suggests a strong performance by the Democratic candidate in the capital city. This early result indicates a potential shift in voter sentiment in Seoul, a key battleground in South Korean politics.

Meanwhile, in Busan, the race is also tight but leaning towards the Democratic Party. With 59.65% of the votes counted in the mayoral election, Jeon Jae-soo of the Democratic Party leads Park Hyung-joon of the People Power Party. Jeon has secured 545,195 votes (52.16%), while Park has 483,928 votes (46.30%). The margin between the two candidates is 5.86 percentage points.

Further results from Daegu show a close contest in the mayoral election, where the Democratic Party's Kim Bu-gyeom is narrowly ahead of the People Power Party's Choo Kyung-ho. With 40.29% of the votes counted, Kim has 263,397 votes (50.20%) to Choo's 255,805 votes (48.75%). In the by-election for the Buk District of Busan, Democratic candidate Ha Jeong-woo is leading independent candidate Han Dong-hoon.