1998 South Korean local elections

1998 South Korean local elections
All 16 Metropolitan Mayors and Governors, 690 Provincial Councillors,; 232 Municipal Leaders, 3,490 Municipal Councillors
Turnout	52.7%(15.7pp)

Last updated July 29, 2025

The 2nd Local Elections were held in South Korea on 4 June 1998. A total of seven metropolitan city mayors, nine provincial governors, 680 provincial-level councilors, 232 municipal-level mayors and 3,490 municipal-level councilors were elected.

Metropolitan city mayoral elections

Seoul


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Goh Kun	National Congress	1,838,348	53.46
	Choi Byung-ryul	Grand National	1,512,854	43.99
	Lee Byung-ho	Independent	87,495	2.54
Total			3,438,697	100.00

Valid votes			3,438,697	98.90
Invalid/blank votes			38,408	1.10
Total votes			3,477,105	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			7,377,751	47.13
	National Congress gain^[1]

Busan


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Ahn Sang-yeong	Grand National	558,909	45.14
	Kim Ki-jae	Independent	537,983	43.45
	Ha Il-min	National Congress	141,172	11.40
Total			1,238,064	100.00

Valid votes			1,238,064	98.30
Invalid/blank votes			21,413	1.70
Total votes			1,259,477	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			2,699,499	46.66
	Grand National hold^[1]

Daegu


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Moon Hee-gap	Grand National	570,167	71.99
	Lee Eui-ik	United Liberal Democrats	163,653	20.66
	Yoo Sung-hwan	New People	58,243	7.35
Total			792,063	100.00

Valid votes			792,063	98.59
Invalid/blank votes			11,300	1.41
Total votes			803,363	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,716,312	46.81
	Grand National hold^[1]

Incheon


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Choi Ki-sun	United Liberal Democrats	375,051	53.50
	Ahn Sang-soo	Grand National	238,708	34.05
	Kim Yong-mo	New People	87,327	12.46
Total			701,086	100.00

Valid votes			701,086	97.79
Invalid/blank votes			15,837	2.21
Total votes			716,923	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,659,977	43.19
	United Liberal Democrats hold^[1]

Gwangju


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Goh Jae-yu	National Congress	261,578	67.21
	Lee Seung-chae	Independent	127,626	32.79
Total			389,204	100.00

Valid votes			389,204	98.38
Invalid/blank votes			6,425	1.62
Total votes			395,629	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			877,868	45.07
	National Congress hold^[1]

Daejeon


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Hong Sun-ki	United Liberal Democrats	286,255	73.69
	Song Chun-young	New People	70,414	18.13
	Cho Myung-hyun	Independent	31,796	8.19
Total			388,465	100.00

Valid votes			388,465	98.31
Invalid/blank votes			6,659	1.69
Total votes			395,124	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			888,968	44.45
	United Liberal Democrats hold^[1]

Ulsan


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Shim Wan-koo	Grand National	160,491	42.74
	Song Cheol-ho	Independent	148,126	39.45
	Kang Chung-ho	New People	37,139	9.89
	Cha Hwa-joon	United Liberal Democrats	29,725	7.92
Total			375,481	100.00

Valid votes			375,481	98.81
Invalid/blank votes			4,538	1.19
Total votes			380,019	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			659,965	57.58
	Grand National hold^[1]

Gubernatorial elections

Gyeonggi


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Lim Chang-yeol	National Congress	1,549,189	54.31
	Sohn Hak-kyu	Grand National	1,303,340	45.69
Total			2,852,529	100.00

Valid votes			2,852,529	98.36
Invalid/blank votes			47,673	1.64
Total votes			2,900,202	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			5,800,425	50.00
	National Congress gain^[1]

Gangwon


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Kim Jin-sun	Grand National	268,559	39.28
	Han Ho-sun	United Liberal Democrats	231,376	33.84
	Lee Sang-ryong	Independent	183,775	26.88
Total			683,710	100.00

Valid votes			683,710	97.85
Invalid/blank votes			14,995	2.15
Total votes			698,705	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,087,113	64.27
	Grand National gain from Independent^[1]

North Chungcheong


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Lee Won-jong	United Liberal Democrats	451,533	74.14
	Ju Byeong-deok	Grand National	157,459	25.86
Total			608,992	100.00

Valid votes			608,992	97.55
Invalid/blank votes			15,306	2.45
Total votes			624,298	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,025,022	60.91
	United Liberal Democrats gain from Grand National ^[1]

South Chungcheong


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Sim Dae-pyung	United Liberal Democrats	656,795	84.64
	Han Chung-soo	Grand National	119,216	15.36
Total			776,011	100.00

Valid votes			776,011	97.08
Invalid/blank votes			23,303	2.92
Total votes			799,314	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,343,633	59.49
	United Liberal Democrats hold^[1]

North Jeolla


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Yu Jong-geun	National Congress	758,141	100.00
Total			758,141	100.00

Valid votes			758,141	93.69
Invalid/blank votes			51,026	6.31
Total votes			809,167	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,400,419	57.78
	National Congress hold^[1]

South Jeolla


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Heo Kyeong-man	National Congress	918,300	100.00
Total			918,300	100.00

Valid votes			918,300	88.13
Invalid/blank votes			123,705	11.87
Total votes			1,042,005	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,527,489	68.22
	National Congress hold^[1]

North Gyeongsang


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Lee Eui-geun	Grand National	911,728	71.97
	Lee Pan-suk	United Liberal Democrats	355,149	28.03
Total			1,266,877	100.00

Valid votes			1,266,877	97.67
Invalid/blank votes			30,214	2.33
Total votes			1,297,091	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,999,195	64.88
	Grand National hold^[1]

South Gyeongsang


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Kim Hyuk-kyu	Grand National	939,358	74.65
	Kang Shin-hwa	National Congress	161,703	12.85
	Heo Moon-doh	Independent	157,337	12.50
Total			1,258,398	100.00

Valid votes			1,258,398	97.69
Invalid/blank votes			29,773	2.31
Total votes			1,288,171	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			2,109,058	61.08
	Grand National hold^[1]

Jeju


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Woo Geun-min	National Congress	139,695	52.77
	Shin Koo-bum	Independent	81,491	30.78
	Hyun Im-jong	Grand National	43,559	16.45
Total			264,745	100.00

Valid votes			264,745	98.42
Invalid/blank votes			4,239	1.58
Total votes			268,984	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			365,121	73.67
	National Congress gain from Independent^[1]

Provincial-level council elections

Summary


Party		Seats
Party		Constituency	Proportional	Total	+/–
	National Congress for New Politics	271	33	303	New
	Grand National Party	224	29	253	–372
	United Liberal Democrats	82	12	95	+1
	Independent	39	–	39	–112
Total		616	74	690	–280

Constituency seats

Region	Seats	NCNP	GNP	ULD	Ind.
Region	Seats
Seoul	94	78	15	1
Busan	44		43	1
Daegu	26		26
Incheon	26	20	4	1	1
Gwangju	14	14
Daejeon	14			14
Ulsan	14		9		5
Gyeonggi	88	61	18	9
Gangwon	42	12	21	3	6
North Chungcheong	24	3		17	4
South Chungcheong	32	1		30	1
North Jeolla	34	32			2
South Jeolla	50	42		1	7
North Gyeongsang	54		44	5	5
South Gyeongsang	46		41		5
Jeju	14	8	3		3
Total	616	271	224	82	39
Source: Council of Local Authorities for International Relations^[2]

Proportional representation seats

Region	Seats	NCNP	GNP	ULD
Region	Seats
Seoul	10	5	5
Busan	5	2	3
Daegu	3	1	2
Incheon	3	1	1	1
Gwangju	3	2		1
Daejeon	3	1		2
Ulsan	3	1	2
Gyeonggi	9	5	3	1
Gangwon	5	2	2	1
North Chungcheong	3	1		2
South Chungcheong	4	2		2
North Jeolla	4	2	1	1
South Jeolla	5	3	2
North Gyeongsang	6	1	4	1
South Gyeongsang	5	2	3
Jeju	3	2	1
Total	74	33	29	12
Source: Council of Local Authorities for International Relations^[2]

Municipal-level mayoral elections

Summary


Party		Seats	+/–
	National Congress for New Politics	84	New
	Grand National Party	74	–80
	United Liberal Democrats	29	+6
	New People's Party	1	New
	Independent	44	–9
Total		232	+2

By region

Region	Mayors	NCNP	GNP	ULD	NPP	Ind.
Region	Mayors
Seoul	25	19	5	1
Busan	16		11			5
Daegu	8		7			1
Incheon	10	9		1
Gwangju	5	5
Daejeon	5	1		4
Ulsan	5		3			2
Gyeonggi	31	20	6	2		3
Gangwon	18	1	13	2		2
North Chungcheong	11	2		6		3
South Chungcheong	15			11	1	3
North Jeolla	14	9				5
South Jeolla	22	15				7
North Gyeongsang	23	1	14	2		6
South Gyeongsang	20		14			6
Jeju	4	2	1			1
Total	232	84	74	29	1	44
Source: Council of Local Authorities for International Relations^[2]

Municipal-level council elections

3,490 seats in municipal-level councils were contested by candidates running as independents.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Election Information System". National Election Commission.
1 2 3 CLAIR Report No. 181 "1998 Unified Local Elections of the Republic of Korea". Council of Local Authorities for International Relations.

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[NEC-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Election Information System". National Election Commission.

[:0-2] 1 2 3 CLAIR Report No. 181 "1998 Unified Local Elections of the Republic of Korea". Council of Local Authorities for International Relations.

[1]

[2]

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1998 South Korean local elections

Contents

Metropolitan city mayoral elections

Seoul

Busan

Daegu

Incheon

Gwangju

Daejeon

Ulsan

Gubernatorial elections

Gyeonggi

Gangwon

North Chungcheong

South Chungcheong

North Jeolla

South Jeolla

North Gyeongsang

South Gyeongsang

Jeju

Provincial-level council elections

Summary

Constituency seats

Proportional representation seats

Municipal-level mayoral elections

Summary

By region

Municipal-level council elections

References