And on to the local elections held in South Korea on Wednesday.<br />It was a landslide victory for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.<br />Voter turnout was the second highest ever for a local election,... coming in above 60 percent for the first time in more than 20 years.<br />Kim Min-ji reports. This year's local elections were a massive win for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea... and an unmitigated disaster for the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.<br /> Out of 17 posts for mayor and governor,... the ruling party claimed victory in 14.<br />What's especially significant about these positions is that they are seen as a springboard to key national leadership positions in the future.<br /> The party dominated the heavily populated areas of Seoul and its neighboring Gyeonggi-do Province.<br /> Likewise they took seats in the central districts, including Daejeon, on top of the usual liberal strongholds, such as Jeolla-do Province.<br /> And even in conservative strongholds -- with the exception of two regions,... Ulsan, Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do Province were taken by the ruling party.<br /> On Jeju Island, an independent candidate was elected. <br /><br />With that, the ruling party has been given an important boost,... having added five governor and mayoral seats to the nine it had already.<br /><br /> "Our win is a victory for the people. We should repay voters who cast their ballots for us. We will do our best as the ruling party,... take a more humble approach... and thoroughly deal with pending issues."<br /><br /> Pundits have pointed to the positive developments in regards to North Korea,... saying the uptick in South-North relations.... and President Moon Jae-in's high approval ratings were favorable factors for the ruling party in this year's local elections.<br />And the fact the elections were largely overshadowed by the North Korea-U.S. summit,.. fresh allegations regarding the candidates themselves,... or even ongoing issues such as an online opinion rigging scandal or even the faltering economy,... were pushed out of the spotlight.<br /><br /> At the other end of the spectrum, the main opposition party wasn't able to position itself as a strong alternative.<br />It still hasn't been able to completely sever its ties to impeached former president Park Geun-hye,... and it's been more or less critical of everything the government has been doing -- with voters unable to regain much trust in the party.<br /><br /> "It's the first time we've experienced such a devastating loss. We humbly accept the results."<br /><br /> The outcome might lead to some serious political reshuffling down the road -- which could come in the form of a change in party leadership, and later perhaps,... the formation of a coalition,... or defections to other parties.<br /><br />There's no doubt the results give the ruling party a massive boost in that it will be easier to get President Moon's policy agendas rolling,... but some experts also say it's important to keep a balance between the progressive and conservative blocs,... in order to keep the ruling
