”Barometer of public sentiment”: Campaign for April 2 re-election begins in South Korea

The April 2 by-election, which has been overshadowed by the impeachment situation in South Korea, will kick off in earnest on the 20th with the start of the official election campaign.
According to the National Election Commission on the 20th, the by-elections will be held in five local government districts (Guro-gu, Seoul; Asan, Chungcheongnam-do;
The total number of locations is 23, including eight metropolitan assembly offices, nine basic assembly offices, and one superintendent of education office (Busan City).
Among local government head elections, the by-election for mayor of Asan in South Chungcheong Province is considered one of the most fierce battlegrounds.
The Democratic Party and the People's Power Party have alternated victories in this region, so the election results are expected to reflect the public sentiment in the center of Chungcheong.
Democratic Party candidate Oh Se-hyeon is running. The Geoje mayoral election will also see a showdown between the Democratic Party and the People's Power candidate. The Democratic Party candidate is former Mayor Byun Gwang-yeon, and the People's Power candidate is Park Hwan-ki.
The election for Damyang County Mayor and the election for Guro-gu District Chief are expected to be contested between candidates from the Democratic Party and the Fatherland Reform Party. For the Damyang County Mayor election, former Democratic Party Vice Chairman Lee Jae-jung (former President)
The secretary-general's administrative officer will run as the Democratic Party candidate, and Chang Cheol-won, chairman of the Damyang County Council, will run as the Innovation Party candidate.
The race is now down to three candidates. Chang In-hong, a former Seoul city council member, is running for the Democratic Party, while Seo Sang-beom, a lawyer who represented President Yoon Seok-youl's impeachment committee, is running for the Innovation Party.
Choi Jae-Hee, Guro District Chairperson, is running for the Progressive Party. The Guro District office is vacant after former district office head Moon Kyung-il, who was elected as a conservative candidate in the 2022 local elections, resigned.
Former Mayor Moon resigned due to the blank check issue, and the People's Power Party did not put up a candidate. Both the Innovation Party and the Progressive Party appear to be putting all their efforts into the Guro District mayoral election. In particular, the Innovation Party won the general election last year,
The party made a big impact by securing 12 seats in the election, but has yet to produce a single local organization leader. Attention is focused on how the election will turn out.