Neither of the front-runners in the race has won public trust that he can resolve South Korea’s many problems.

Hyung-A Kim is Associate Professor of Korean Politics and History at the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. She is... the author of the Korean Skilled Workers: Towards A Labor Aristocracy, 2020, and Korea's Development under Park Chung Hee: Rapid Industrialization, 1961-79, 2014, as well as numerous articles including, President Roh Moo-Hyun's Last Interview and the Roh Moo-Hyun Phenomenon in South Korea, Journal of Contemporary Asia, (Dec. 2016) and "Out of Power: and on Trial: the Corruption Trials of Former Leaders in East Asia," Journal of Situation, 11(1), 2018 (with Robert Cribb).
Neither of the front-runners in the race has won public trust that he can resolve South Korea’s many problems.
President Moon and his party should see the results of the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections as a warning sign.
And Koreans are taking notice.