[21st General Election] Cheers Erupt in Democratic Party Vote Counting Room... Leadership Maintains Composure

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] At 6:30 p.m. on the 15th, when the exit poll results for the 21st National Assembly election were announced by the broadcasting stations, cheers and applause erupted in the vote counting situation room of the Democratic Party of Korea and the Democratic Citizen Party as the broadcast declared "It is certain that the Democratic Party and the Citizen Party have secured a majority." Earlier, a situation room official had requested, "Please refrain from cheering and watch the counting calmly," but applause and cheers continued in various places.

In particular, when the exit poll results for Jongno-gu showed that Lee Nak-yeon, the Democratic Party's joint standing election committee chairman, was winning (Democratic Party candidate Lee Nak-yeon 53.0%, United Future Party candidate Hwang Kyo-ahn 44.8%), loud applause broke out. On the other hand, sighs were heard in areas like Songpa-eul, where the United Future Party candidate was leading (Democratic Party Choi Jae-sung 43.3%, United Future Party Bae Hyun-jin 53.2%).

As exit poll results predicting victories for Democratic Party candidates in the metropolitan area and Honam continued, the applause, which had gradually subsided, grew louder again when it moved to Gangwon and Busan regions, classified as difficult areas for the Democratic Party. In the Busan Nam-gu-eul exit poll results (Democratic Party Park Jae-ho 50.7%, United Future Party Lee Eon-ju 48.8%), when candidate Park Jae-ho was shown in a close race, exclamations of "Wow" and applause were heard. However, in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk (TK) region, sighs continued as exit poll results showed Democratic Party candidates trailing.

However, the Democratic Party leadership watched the exit poll results without much change in expression. Chairman Lee left the situation room saying, "Exit poll results are just exit poll results," and added, "During the election period, we felt the heavy responsibility from the people to swiftly overcome the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), and we approached this election with that in mind." He continued, "After the election, we will prioritize overcoming the national crisis and devote ourselves to that effort. We will wait for the official election results with a humble heart."

Democratic Party floor leader Lee In-young also said, "I have thought that we must be humble regardless of the outcome and work hard." He added, "Our hearts are calm," and "They will remain so even when the final results come out."

When asked whether the public viewed the Moon Jae-in administration's response to the COVID-19 crisis positively, he said, "I believe that was actually the case." He stated, "If we work hard immediately after the general election, there is an expectation that we can lead well in overcoming the economic crisis as well," and added, "I believe there was a sentiment that at least during this extraordinary time, the government should be supported to lead and operate stably."

Present in the situation room that day were Representative Lee Hae-chan, Floor Leader Lee In-young, Chairman Lee Nak-yeon, Democratic Citizen Party co-representatives Woo Hee-jong and Choi Bae-geun, Democratic Citizen Party standing election committee chairman Lee Jong-geol, party members, and candidates. Representative Lee left the situation room without making any particular statement.