The two South Korean 2011 by-elections took place on April 27, 2011 in 38 electoral districts across the country and on October 26, 2011 in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

after

Oh Se-hoon Oh Se-hoon ( Korean: 오세훈, Hanja: 吳世勳; born January 4, 1961) is a South Korean politician who is currently the serving Mayor of Seoul since 8 April 2021. He also previously served as a member of the National Assembly of South Kore ...

resigned due to his failure in the Seoul Free Lunch Referendum.

October 26

The main focus of the October by-election was about filling the vacant seat of the

mayor of Seoul The Mayor of Seoul () is the chief executive of Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul being the capital and largest city of South Korea. The position is historically one of the most powerful in the country, charged with managing an annual budge ...

. The election was eventually won by an independent candidate

Park Won-soon Park Won-soon ( ko, 박원순; March 26, 1956July 9, 2020) was a South Korean politician, activist, and lawyer. His term ended when he took his own life due to a sexual harassment scandal. He was the longest-serving mayor of Seoul, from 2011 un ...

against the

Grand National Party The Liberty Korea Party () was a conservative political party in South Korea that was described variously as right-wing, right-wing populist, or far-right. Until February 2017, it was known as the Saenuri Party (), and before that as the Hanna ...

candidate,

Na Kyung-won Na Kyung-won (나경원, born 6 December 1963) is a South Korean judge-turned-politician. She is a member of the conservative People Power Party, which is the main opposition party. She was a four-term member of the National Assembly and the ...

. On an anecdotal view, an unnamed representative of an electoral district in Seoul said that the general public mood against the Grand National Party was closely similar to political events in 2004, when former president

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (; ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea between 2003 and 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

was on the verge of being impeached.

Seoul mayoral by-election

Impact

Blue House

The

Blue House Cheong Wa Dae ( ko, 청와대; Hanja: ; ), also known as the Blue House, is a public park that formerly served as the executive office and official residence of the president of South Korea from 1948 to 2022. It is located in the Jongno distr ...

under the

Lee Myung-bak government The Lee Myung-bak government (, RR: ''I Myeong-bak Jeongbu'') was the fifth government of the Sixth Republic of South Korea. It took office on 25 February 2008 after Lee Myung-bak's victory in the 2007 presidential elections. Most of the new cabi ...

has been negatively impacted the most. President Lee Myung-bak did not make any official commentary right after the election's result due to a real estate dispute and due to the growing younger voters' opposition against him.

Grand National Party

This October by-election is known to have a negative impact on the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

political establishments in South Korea, notably

and the Grand National Party. Grand National Party politician, Jeon Yeo-ok, made a remark that "the Grand National Party is a party that betrays its supporters" after the loss. The youth faction of the GNP made a suggestion to rename the party to another name to avoid criticisms. There has been a growing pessimistic outlook for the Grand National Party. Former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

and current head of the Presidential Commission for Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies, Chung Un-chan, mentioned in the GNP Incheon branch seminar on November 17 how "the GNP doesn't receive any affection" and "would most likely lose the next presidential election". Some high-profile GNP members deny that this by-election is a loss. For instance, chairperson

Hong Jun-pyo Hong Joon-pyo (born 20 November 1953), also spelled as Hong Jun-pyo, is a South Korean politician and former prosecutor who is the current Mayor of Daegu, Mayor of Daegu. He previous served as the governor of South Gyeongsang Province, a membe ...

responded as "neither a win nor a loss". Hong's comment later triggered backlashes among other GNP members, including Won Hee-ryong.

References

{{South Korean elections 2011 2011 elections in South Korea April 2011 events in South Korea October 2011 events in South Korea