Blue House Watches June 3 Local Elections as First Nationwide Test of Lee Jae-myung Government

The Blue House is closely watching the outcome of the June 3 local elections while maintaining its stated principle of political neutrality.
 
The results are widely expected to be read as a public assessment of the Lee Jae-myung government, with implications for its governing momentum.

The June 3 vote is the administration’s first nationwide election since it took office in June last year. It also comes almost exactly one year after Lee took office, and will be held alongside National Assembly by-elections in 14 districts.
 
According to political circles on Saturday, three former Blue House aides are running in the 14 by-elections: former spokesperson Kim Nam-jun in Incheon Gyeyang-eul, former senior secretary for AI Future Planning Ha Jeong-woo in Busan Buk-gap, and former spokesperson Jeon Eun-su, nominated in South Chungcheong’s Asan-eul.
 
In the races for metropolitan and local government heads, Woo Sang-ho, a former senior secretary for political affairs, is running for Gangwon governor, and Kim Byeong-uk, a former political affairs secretary, is running for Seongnam mayor.
 
Many polls and analysts expect the elections to end in a one-sided victory for the Democratic Party, which could allow Lee to further consolidate his grip on the agenda as he enters his second year in office. Such a result could also be interpreted as voter approval of the government’s risk management amid global uncertainty and supply-chain instability linked to the Middle East war.
 
After the elections, Lee is expected to push plans to diversify energy supply chains and diplomatic cooperation, accelerate the energy transition, and move faster on ambitions to become a leading country in areas including artificial intelligence and the defense industry.
 
Lee’s job approval rating has remained in the mid-60s. A Gallup Korea poll released May 1 found 64% approved of his performance, down 3 percentage points from the previous survey. Disapproval stood at 26%, up 1 point, and 10% were undecided.
 
The poll surveyed 1,002 adults nationwide ages 18 and older from April 28 to 30.
 
Eom Gyeong-yeong, head of the Institute for the Spirit of the Times, said the mid-60s approval rating shows the public is giving the government passing marks for its response to the Middle East war. He said a landslide win in the local elections would further boost the administration’s ability to govern.
 
The Blue House has sought to project focus on governing, including responding to the Middle East war. Lee spent the weekend without a separate official schedule.
 
Still, Lee shared a post on X by Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won and wrote, “It is fine not to repay illegal loans that exceed the legal limit.” The message was interpreted as encouraging victims of illegal private lending to report abuses, noting that contracts exceeding the legal cap are invalid.
 
Lee Eok-won wrote on X on April 28 that a revised enforcement decree to the Loan Business Act, aimed at lowering barriers to reporting 피해 from illegal private lending, had passed a Cabinet meeting. He emphasized that loan contracts with annual interest rates above 60% render both principal and interest invalid.

The Gallup Korea survey was conducted through interviewer-administered telephone calls using randomly generated mobile phone numbers. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 13.3%. More details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.