39% of Local Election Candidates Have Criminal Records on Registration's First Day

On May 14, the first day of candidate registration for the June 3 local elections, 187 out of 475 candidates for district chief positions (39.3%) were recorded as having criminal records. Nationwide, a total of 5,917 candidates registered, with 18 out of 49 candidates for provincial governor/mayor positions (36.7%) and 11 out of 34 candidates for by-elections to the National Assembly (32.4%) reporting criminal records.

The proportion of district chief candidates with criminal records by party was as follows: Progressive Party 66.6%, Cho Kuk Innovation Party 52.3%, Democratic Party 36.4%, People Power Party 35.1%, and New Reform Party 23.5%. The Labor Party, Justice Party, and Korea Independence Party each registered one candidate for district chief, all of whom had criminal records. The Progressive Party and Cho Kuk Innovation Party had over half of their district chief candidates with criminal records.

The election commission is scheduled to release detailed criminal records after candidate registration is finalized.