Jobs Top Voting Priority Nationwide in Local Elections; Seoul Prioritizes Housing Price Stability

Voters ahead of the local elections have indicated that 'job creation and business attraction' is their top priority issue for their regions. In a nationwide survey of voters, 'jobs/attracting businesses or industries' garnered 65.3% support, emerging as the most important criterion for this year's local elections.

In Seoul particularly, 'housing price stability' was cited as the top voting priority. Amid rising real estate prices and housing shortages in Seoul, the response prioritizing 'housing price stability' as a voting criterion was the highest in the country at 37.8%. Voters in the Gyeonggi and Incheon metropolitan areas also selected 'housing price stability' with 29.0%, while 16.4% mentioned 'expansion of public transportation' as a voting criterion.

Regionally, the proportion of respondents who considered 'jobs/attracting businesses or industries' important exceeded the national average in the Gwangju, Jeonbuk, and Jeonnam regions (75.4%), Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions (74.6%), and Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions (71.0%).

These voter demands are reflected in the top 10 pledges for the local elections released by the National Election Commission for both the ruling and opposition parties. The Democratic Party of Korea prioritized fostering core local and new industries, while the People Power Party focused on housing stability and restoring opportunities for youth. The Democratic Party presented fostering core local and new industries and balanced development as its first to third pledges, while the People Power Party prioritized housing stability, deregulation, and restoring youth opportunities.

This survey was conducted from May 6 to May 10, 2026, among 1,701 voters nationwide, using a combination of mobile web surveys via mobile phones and face-to-face interviews via wired and wireless phone calls. The margin of error was ±2.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.