Women elected only 10 of 243 top local government roles in Korea

Only 10 women were elected to lead local governments in South Korea’s local elections last week, winning just 10 of the 243 metropolitan and municipal chief positions up for grabs. Critics say the results highlight the continued lack of representation for women and minorities in politics.

According to an analysis of data from the National Election Commission’s election statistics system released on Sunday by the Korean Women Parliamentarian Network, women accounted for 1,398 of the 4,226 winning candidates in Wednesday’s local elections, or 33.1% of the total.

The figure represents an increase of 218 from the last round of local elections in 2022, when 1,180 women were elected, accounting for 28.6% of all winners.

The number of women elected to metropolitan councils and provincial assemblies rose by 67, from 115 to 182, while women’s representation in municipal and district councils increased by 112, from 650 to 762.

Despite the overall gains, little changed in the most influential local government positions.

Of the 243 seats for metropolitan mayors, provincial governors, and municipal or district leaders, only 10 were won by women, accounting for 4.1% of the total. That compares with seven women local government elected in the 2022 elections (2.9%) and eight in the 2018 elections (3.3%).

Women’s groups say the outcomes of last week’s elections show that the political glass ceiling remains firmly in place.

“These local elections once again showed how unwilling political parties are to break the entrenched male-dominated political structure and secure greater representation for women and minorities,” the Korean Women’s Associations United said in a statement released Friday.

“As long as our political system continues to push women and minorities to the margins, discrimination and exclusion will continue to be problems,” the group said.

The organization nevertheless pointed to several notable achievements by female politicians. Among them was the election of former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae as governor of Gyeonggi Province, making her the country’s first female head of a province.

Other milestones included the election of Kim Me-kyung of Eunpyeong District as Seoul’s first woman to win three consecutive terms as a district office chief, and Mayor Kim Bo-ra of Anseong becoming the nation’s first female mayor to secure a third term.

However, the group cautioned that such achievements should not be treated as exceptional cases.

“To ensure that these accomplishments are not remembered as outliers, the political structure itself, which continues t