![The special mayoral election for Gwangju and South Jeolla Province is approaching, but opposition parties outside the Democratic Party of Korea face a severe shortage of candidates. In that context, preliminary candidates from the Joguk Innovation Party for Gwangju’s metropolitan and local council seats held a press conference at the Gwangju City Council on the 9th to call for electoral reform, including the introduction of multi-member districts. It reads like a push for change. [Photo=Joguk Innovation Party]](https://contents-cdn.viewus.co.kr/image/2026/03/CP-2023-0070/image-07678318-f29b-4ebc-a741-7dabe90c1cb6.jpeg)
The special mayoral election for Gwangju and South Jeolla Province is approaching, but opposition parties outside the Democratic Party of Korea are struggling to recruit viable candidates.
The Democratic Party already has eight contenders competing in its internal primary, while the main opposition People Power Party and the Joguk Innovation Party have yet to produce confirmed entrants. As a result, the inaugural special mayoral contest appears likely to be dominated by Democratic Party candidates.
Local attention is focused less on the June 3 general election than on the Democratic primary, which will determine the party’s nominee.
According to political sources on the 10th, the People Power Party says seven current and former provincial and city party chairs and regional leaders expressed interest since last month, but none have formally filed candidacies.
Banners calling for candidates to step forward have hung across downtown Gwangju and in major cities across South Jeolla for more than 10 days, yet no municipal executive candidates have emerged.
That reticence appears to reflect the People Power Party’s historically weak vote share in the area.
The People Power Party’s Gwangju branch said it regrets that the number of applications fell short of expectations. It added that it hopes a recent resolution — issued in the name of all People Power Party lawmakers, which includes an apology regarding the imposition of emergency rule and opposes former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s return to politics — might help reverse the current reluctance to register as candidates.
The Joguk Innovation Party has also declined to field a candidate for the special mayoralty, choosing instead to concentrate its resources on multi-member local council districts and proportional metropolitan council seats.
Reflecting that strategy, Joguk Innovation Party preliminary candidates for Gwangju’s metropolitan and local councils called on March 9 for electoral reforms, including the adoption of multi-member districts.
At a press conference at Gwangju City Council, they argued that low turnout, uncontested races, and a council structure dominated by a single party have weakened grassroots democracy in Gwangju, and that institutional reforms are needed to broaden political representation.
Observers say the move appears aimed at changing an electoral environment that currently favors the Democratic Party.
Other minor parties, including the Basic Income Party and the Reform Innovation Party, are likewise likely to contest only selected local council seats rather than mounting a campaign for the special mayoralty.
The Progressive Party, however, has united behind Lee Jong-wook — the candidate who heads the Gwangju chapter of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions — and he formally declared his candidacy at a press conference on the 10th.
The Justice Party’s Gwangju chair, Kang Eun-mi, reportedly decided to run for the special mayoralty after consultations with the Jeonnam provincial party.
In the end, the special mayoral contest is expected to revolve around Democratic Party contenders, and attention has shifted to who will secure the party’s nomination in the primary, which concludes by April, rather than to the June 3 general election.
