Record-High Turnout in Busan for the 9th Nationwide Local Elections... Buk-gu, a Three-Way Battleground, Tops at 70.2%

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[Financial News] As the 9th Nationwide Local Elections ended at 6 p.m. on June 3, Busan's turnout was confirmed at 62.1%, up by a sharp 13.0 percentage points from the 8th local elections.
According to the National Election Commission (NEC) at 7:30 p.m. on June 3, the preliminary nationwide turnout for this local election was 60.7%, with 27,102,453 of the 44,649,908 eligible voters casting ballots. The figure surpassed the 60% mark.
In Busan, 1,775,578 of the city's 2,857,335 eligible voters participated, producing a turnout of 62.1%. That was 13.0 percentage points higher than in the previous local elections, underscoring the city's strong national attention once again.
Exit polls suggested an extremely close race in the Busan mayoral election, with Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate Chun Jae-soo at 50.2% and People Power Party candidate Park Heong-joon at 48.3%, a gap of just over 2 percentage points. In the Busan Buk-gu-gap constituency by-election, DPK candidate Ha Jung-woo was projected at 42.6% and independent candidate Han Dong-hoon at 41.6%, setting up another nail-biter with a margin of just 1.0 percentage point.
Shortly after the exit poll results were released, Chun's camp was in a celebratory mood as it watched the vote count broadcast, while Park's camp followed the count in a tense atmosphere. In the Busan Buk-gu-gap race, both Ha's and Han's camps broke into cheers after the exit polls were announced, with both sides expressing confidence in victory.
Among Busan's 16 districts and counties, Buk-gu, where the parliamentary by-election was also held, posted the highest turnout at 70.2%, 9.5 percentage points above the preliminary national turnout. By contrast, Jung-gu recorded the lowest turnout in Busan at 59.1%. A total of 12 districts and counties exceeded the 60% turnout threshold.
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lich0929@fnnews.com Byun Ok-hwan Reporter