Defying polls that favored Democratic Party, Park holds South Gyeongsang governorship

Reverses race with near-30,000-vote margin in political stronghold of Changwon

Park Wan-su, the People Power Party's governor-elect of South Gyeongsang Province, speaks at his campaign office in Sangnam-dong, Seongsan-gu, Changwon, on Thursday morning. [Yonhap]
Park Wan-su, the People Power Party's governor-elect of South Gyeongsang Province, speaks at his campaign office in Sangnam-dong, Seongsan-gu, Changwon, on Thursday morning. [Yonhap]

People Power Party governor-elect Park Wan-su has won reelection in South Gyeongsang Province, overturning exit polls that had projected a narrow Democratic Party of Korea victory. With the PPP having already lost the Busan and Ulsan mayoral races to the Democratic Party, Park's win prevented the opposition from sweeping all three major regional posts in the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam, or PK, bloc — a scenario that had loomed as a serious possibility within the party.

Park clinched the race at around 9:20 a.m. Thursday with 51.40 percent of the vote, according to the National Election Commission. The outcome defied months of polling that had shown Park trailing Democratic Party candidate Kim Kyung-soo, leaving even conservative supporters pessimistic. Exit polls conducted by the three major terrestrial broadcasters the previous day had put Park at 45.7 percent against Kim's 53.4 percent.

The Democratic Party's strong outlook had been bolstered by two additional factors: the election came just a year after the presidential election, and Kim himself is a former governor of South Gyeongsang Province.

Anxiety within the PPP deepened as vote counting progressed and the party fell in both the Busan and Ulsan mayoral contests in quick succession, raising fears that the Democratic Party could claim every major regional governorship across the PK region.

Park's narrow victory drew praise within the party as having averted a conservative crisis. "Park was well regarded by residents of the province, so we believed it was winnable," a PPP official said. "He effectively turned the tide in PK."

A two-term Assembly member, Park first entered elected office in 1994 as head of Hapcheon-gun in South Gyeongsang Province. He went on to serve two terms as mayor of pre-merger Changwon and then as the inaugural mayor of the consolidated Changwon city, before serving as president of Incheon International Airport. He was first elected South Gyeongsang governor in 2022.

Park trailed Kim in Gimhae, Yangsan and Geoje, but reversed the race by building a margin of nearly 30,000 votes in his political stronghold of Changwon. About 76 percent of the province's roughly 2.775 million eligible voters live across its five largest cities — Changwon, Gimhae, Yangsan, Jinju and Geoje. Park's commanding lead in Changwon, the largest of the five, proved decisive. He carried 15 of the province's 18 cities and counties.


hyuk@heraldcorp.com