Recent presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung and Ahn Cheol-soo, respectively of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea and the ruling People Power Party, appeared likely to land National Assembly seats in Wednesday’s by-election, according to exit polls. 


Lee saves face

Lee Jae-myung, who was narrowly beaten in the 2022 presidential race just three months ago, trumped his People Power Party opponent Yun Hyung-sun 54 percent to 45 percent in their exit poll.

This presumptive victory comes as a relief for Lee, who was vying to represent Gyeyang-gu, a typically left-leaning district of Incheon. Despite running in a constituency that has only elected Democratic Party candidates for the last two decades, Lee has had some dangerously close polls.

Lee matched up against Yun, a political novice with no history of ever being elected to office. Lee, on the other hand, was a Gyeonggi Province governor and twice the mayor of Seongnam. He also very recently ran for the presidency and rivaled the sitting president.

The only edge Yun had over Lee is that he is a primary care physician who has had an office in Gyeyang-gu for 25 years -- as opposed to the Democratic Party challenger who is a newcomer to town, both politically and personally.

All things considered, even a close victory would have been humiliating for Lee.

In the past two weeks, Lee has been making desperate pleas to supporters as polls indicated he was either losing or only slightly ahead.

“This is an extremely difficult situation that I, along with my Democratic Party colleagues, am facing,” he said in a public radio interview on May 23, urging voters to cast ballots. 


Ahn set for crushing win

In a Bundang-gu constituency of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Ahn Cheol-soo looked to be headed for a crushing victory over Kim Byoung-gwan, the Democratic Party candidate who represented the district in 2016.

Ahn, who backed out of the presidential race at the last minute and lent his support to Yoon, headed the transition team for the new administration. After rejecting offers to be in Yoon’s Cabinet, he opted instead to run to be a lawmaker.

Since the announcement of his bid, polls have consistently favored Ahn by an unmistakably large margin. The results from the exit polls were a continuation of that trend: 64 percent reported having voted for Ahn, as opposed to just 36 percent who said they cast their votes for Kim.

As the ballot count reached 15 percent at 10:20 p.m. Wednesday, Ahn maintained a lead of over 33 percentage points.

At his final rally Tuesday, Ahn said, “Whether our country is able to rise from the challenges that lay ahead depends on the success of the Yoon administration. And the first step in aiding that success is a shift in National Assembly control.”

Ahn competed in every one of the last three presidential elections and was elected lawmaker twice in Seoul’s Nowon-gu. After entering politics in 2012, he has been affiliated with parties across the political spectrum.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)