Lee Nak-yeon Admits Defeat: "South Korea Seems to Be Heading into a Serious Crisis"

'Political Heavyweight' Lee Nak-yeon Defeated, Min Hyung-bae Elected

Lee Nak-yeon, co-representative of Saeroun Mirae, who ran for the 22nd National Assembly election in Gwangsan-eul, Gwangju, is giving a broadcast interview at the campaign office in Suwan-dong, Gwangsan-gu on the 10th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Min Hyung-bae, the Democratic Party candidate, succeeded in winning re-election in Gwangsan-eul, Gwangju, a major battleground in the general election, defeating the "political heavyweight" Lee Nak-yeon of the New Future Party.

As of 11:47 PM on the 10th, the vote counting rate in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju was 39.32%, with Min receiving 36,679 votes, accounting for 75.05%, far ahead of Lee, who had 7,206 votes (14.74%), making Min's victory certain.

Min, who served as a secretary at the Blue House during the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations, was elected in this district in the 21st general election with an overwhelming 84.05% of the vote.

Exit polls by the three major broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS also showed Min winning 72.5% of the vote, while Lee received 17.4%, indicating a large gap.

Having defeated Lee, who was even a presidential primary candidate, Min has now gained an opportunity to rise as a representative politician of the Honam region.

On the other hand, Lee is expected to face setbacks in his political career.

Despite his impressive political career as a five-term National Assembly member, party leader, governor of Jeollanam-do, and prime minister, he failed to win the hearts of Honam voters during the process of leaving the Democratic Party and founding the New Future Party.

On the afternoon of the same day, he acknowledged his defeat, saying, "I will humbly accept the will of the citizens of Gwangju. Regardless of the election results, I will strive, as I promised during the campaign, to ensure that the Republic of Korea does not fall into crisis again."

He added, "Looking at the election results, I keep having a foreboding feeling that the Republic of Korea will be drawn into a more serious crisis after the election. I would like to ask the politicians who have gained the people's trust and entered the National Assembly this time to carry out their legislative activities with a sincere dedication to putting the country first."