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By Yi Whan-woo
The death of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Thursday, is expected to heat up the by-elections next year, with the country's capital needing to find his successor rapidly.
The National Election Commission will run by-elections on April 7, 20201 to replace lawmakers and local governors if their seats have remained empty from March 17 this year to March 8, 2021.
Seoul will join the by-elections, along with Busan whose mayoral post has been vacant after Oh Keo-don resigned over sexual harassment in April this year.
In addition to the country's two largest cities, other major municipalities may also have vacancies filled in the 2021 polls.
Among them are South Gyeongsang Province and Gyeongg Province, with their respective governors ― Kim Kyoung-soo and Lee Jae-myung ― currently undergoing trials that could strip them off their seats.
Under the Election Law, elected officials are removed from their position if they receive a sentence of a higher than 1 million won ($830) fine for violation of the laws on election and political funding, or one year imprisonment.
Kim, a close aide of President Moon Jae-in, was sentenced to two years in January 2019 for online-opinion rigging ahead of the 2017 presidential election. He was given bail a couple of months later after he appealed his case to a high court.
Lee is awaiting a decision from nine judges of the Supreme Court over whether a lower court was right in fining him 3 million won for making "false claims" in his 2018 local election bid.
"The 2021 by-elections certainly can be comparable to regular local elections, as new Seoul and Busan mayors will be elected," said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University.
