Incumbent Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party waves to cameras during his victory speech at his reelection campaign office in Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
In a stunning political turnaround, incumbent Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon secured his reelection in Wednesday's vote, overcoming an early exit poll projection that had forecast a loss to his liberal rival Chong Won-o.
According to the National Election Commission (NEC) Thursday, as of 3 p.m., with 99.54 percent of the votes counted, Oh of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) obtained 49.15 percent of the vote, defeating Chong of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), who garnered 48.13 percent. The formal announcement of the winner has not been made.
This came after an exit poll for Wednesday’s local elections released jointly by major broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS put Chong at 51.4 percent and Oh at 46 percent. During the initial stages of the count, Chong had maintained a comfortable lead. But by around 7:20 a.m. Thursday, some 13 hours after counting started, Oh had steadily erased the deficit to clinch a dramatic come-from-behind win.
“This election is a victory for common sense,” Oh said at his campaign office. “It is a victory for young people who, even as they despair that the ladder of social mobility has been cut off, once again dare to dream of a fair and hopeful future. It is a victory for ordinary citizens who yearn for an end to the hellish ordeal of soaring housing prices, for working couples searching for a safe place to entrust their children … It is a victory for these ordinary, diligent citizens.”
