Much to her own surprise, South Korean President Park Geun-hye's conservative Saenuri Party did well in local elections 10 days ago. The ruling party won eight of the 17 races for mayors of big cities and provincial governors. The main opposition New Political Alliance for Democracy won the other nine big races. Park and her party had expected a major backlash at the ballot box because of the government's perceived mishandling of the sinking of the ferry Sewol in April, in which 300 people, mostly high school students, died. Park said she would use her rejuvenated mandate to press ahead with reforms aimed at economic revitalization.
