Let's begin with the local elections held in South Korea on Wednesday.
The final ballots are being counted,... but the results are more or less confirmed.
The results show a landslide victory for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
For more on the victories and defeats.... and what they could mean for the various parties and the government,... I'm joined in the studio by our political correspondent Kim Min-ji.
Min-ji, a long night for you,... but the results became apparent shortly after voting ended...
Mark,
___ percent of votes have been counted,... but with majority of regions leading by a overwhelming margin,... by the wee hours it was pretty much confirmed who would be the elected.
Voter turnout was at 60-point-2 percent, tentatively -- the second highest for a local election,... and the first time in more than 20 years it has topped the 60 percent mark.
Now the results like you said, show a massive win for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
Out of 17 districts,... it claimed victory in 14 of them,... including three traditional conservative strongholds.
Let's take a closer look at the graphics for the posts of mayor and governors of South Korea's 17 metropolitan cities and provinces.
What's significant about these positions is that they are seen as a springboard to national leaders later in their political careers.
Right, there's a good chance that among the faces we saw last night, one of two might go on to be president one day.
Now... in some regions,... the winner totally dominated -- winning 70, 80 percent of the votes.
Usually these local elections are seen as a barometer of public sentiment towards the government... so the public seems to have given the government a strong vote of confidence.
What were some factors that led to the ruling party's victory?
Well most pundits have pointed to the developments on the Korean peninsula in regards to North Korea,... of playing a favorable factor in this year's local elections.
This also bumped up the approval rating of the Moon Jae-in administration and the party itself.
And a distinctive feature this time round was that people said they wanted to support the president's peace initiative.
And the fact that the elections were largely overshadowed by the summit between North Korea and the U.S.,... 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.
At the other end of the spectrum, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party wasn't able to position itself well enough as a strong alternative.
It still hasn't been able to completely cut off its relations to impeached former president Park Geun-hye,... and it's been more or less critical of everything the government has been doing -- so people haven't really been able to regain much trust in the party.
Hence, the issues they brought up, didn't receive much support or interest from voters.
