The following article is a column by Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University and a director at Korea Risk Group, which oversees NK News and NK Pro. Views expressed in opinion articles and columns are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News.

Earlier this month on April 7, Seoul and Busan – South Korea’s two largest cities – held mayoral by-elections, and conservatives won in a landslide victory. In Seoul, for example, the gap between the conservative opposition candidate and his defeated opponent reached an impressive 18%— a shock to the ruling liberal