Justice Party, 1.2 Billion Won in Donations Collected After Exit Polls
Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party presidential candidate, is speaking on the 10th at the vote counting situation room set up at the Justice Party headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Citizens continue to support Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party presidential candidate, who ranked third with a total of 803,358 votes in the 20th presidential election, making it difficult to receive election expense reimbursement from the government.
On the 10th, Park Won-seok, the Justice Party's public relations director, announced on his Facebook that "an additional 700 million won in donations was deposited into Sim Sang-jung's campaign account overnight, right after the exit poll results were announced."
Park explained, "There was an outpouring of support for Sim Sang-jung, especially from women in their 20s and 30s who had to reluctantly vote for the lesser evil instead of their first choice, expressing sympathy with the phrase 'Sim Sang-jung jimo-mi' (a shortened form of 'sorry we couldn't protect you'). He added, "Sim Sang-jung's votes actually created a razor-thin race between the two leading candidates." Women in their 20s and 30s who could not vote for Sim are expressing their heartfelt support through donations.
In this election, Sim Sang-jung received 2.37% of the vote, which disqualifies her from receiving election expense reimbursement. According to the principle of equal opportunity in election campaigns and the public election system, candidates who receive at least 10% of valid votes are reimbursed for half of their election expenses, and those who receive 15% or more are reimbursed in full.
According to the Justice Party, by early morning on the 10th, about 1.2 billion won had been collected through Sim's donation accounts. Regarding this, Lee Dong-young, the Justice Party's chief spokesperson, said, "This amount has been collected since the exit poll announcement the previous day. Most donations are small and from many donors. After a short counting period, about 1.2 billion won was raised. We believe voters made a painful choice, thinking they must block someone and elect a less bad president as a second-best option."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
