Over the past decades, South Korea’s deep-rooted regionalism has been considered the source of entrenched animosity and ideological standoffs encouraged by politicians who have manipulated sentiment in their favor.

But Wednesday’s election seemed to show that such decades-old tactics might no longer work for the established parties, with the electorate in liberal and conservative strongholds casting their ballots for candidates running across the regional divide.

In the conservative strongholds of Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang regions, opposition contenders won in 11 voting districts. Two opposition and independent candidates also secured wins in Daegu, the heart of President Park Geun-hye and the ruling camp’s support base.

On the other side of the country in Gwangju and Jeolla, the traditional backer of liberal oppositions, two Saenuri Party candidates came out as victors.

“The results could be a sign that regionalism is not as strong as it used to be,” said Lee Nae-young, professor of comparative politics at Korea University. “Particularly, young voters think more about the candidates than the parties when they cast their votes” said Lee.

One of the most prominent victories came from Kim Boo-kyum, the first candidate from The Minjoo Party of Korea elected in Daegu in more than 30 years. The nation’s third biggest city is one of the strongest political bases for the conservative party and the place where President Park Geun-hye began her political career.

“I think it will usher in a new era of South Korea’s politics,” said Kim, the third-term lawmaker who beat his Saenuri counterpart former Gyeonggi Province governor Kim Moon-soo by a margin of more than 20 percent. The lawmaker-elect was narrowly defeated in the 2012 general election and the race to choose the city’s mayor in 2014.

The liberal strongholds also saw outsiders’ victories. South Jeolla Province elected two candidates from the Saenuri Party: Jung woon-chun and Rep. Lee Jung-hyn. Lee will be the first third-term conservative lawmaker elected in the southern region.

These cracks were also shown in conservative political bases in Seoul and nearby metropolitan areas. Having elected conservative parties throughout the decades, the regions’ affluent neighborhood elected liberal candidates for the first time in nearly thirty years.

Minjoo Party candidate Jeon Hyun-hee beat incumbent Saenuri counterpart Rep. Kim Jong-hoon in Gangnam-gu B constituency. The conservative parties have not lost to liberal ones since the 1988 election in the region. 

But the experts noted that the results hardly show the regional divide will become a thing of the past in the upcoming elections anytime soon.

“It is hard to say it is the decline of regionalism,” said Choi Young-jin, professor of Korean politics at Chung-Ang University. “Regionalism can take various forms. It is about being united under one party. It doesn’t matter who they side with,” said Choi, referring to the election victory by the People’s Party, which took all eight seats in liberal stronghold Gwangju city.
Politics professor of Myongji University Shin Yul agreed, suggesting the latest outcome could also be driven by the new electoral maps.

“The victory in Gangnam-gu had little to do with the demise of regionalism. The residents cast their votes based on their economic interests. The voters chose the liberal candidate as the electorate included more low-income households as a result of redrawing the electoral map,” said Shin.

By Yeo Jun-suk (Jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)