Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon celebrates after receiving a bouquet for winning the mayoral race for Seoul at Seoul City Hall in Jung District, central Seoul, on June 4. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Major discrepancies between election forecasts and the final results of the June 3 local elections and National Assembly by-elections have sparked growing doubts about the accuracy of exit polls and pre-election surveys.
Changing voting patterns, declining survey participation and methodological shortcomings all contributed to the misses. The result has been a growing debate over whether Korea's polling industry needs to rethink how it measures public opinion.
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In the Seoul mayoral race, incumbent Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party (PPP) won with 49.15 percent of the votes compared to his contender Chong Won-o of the Democratic Party (DP), who won 48.13 percent of the votes as of 5 p.m. on Thursday.
