Lee Jae Myung Sets New Record for Most Votes in Presidential Election... Fails to Secure Majority

In the 21st presidential election, President-elect Lee Jae Myung recorded a final vote share of 49.42%. Although he failed to secure a majority, he received over 17 million votes, setting a new record for the highest number of votes in history.

The Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung, who is expected to be elected as the 21st president, and his wife Kim Hye Kyung are leaving after visiting the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul on the 4th. Photo by Kim Hyun Min

According to the National Election Commission, the final nationwide vote shares were 49.42% for President-elect Lee, 41.15% for People Power Party candidate Kim Moon Soo, 8.34% for Reform New Party candidate Lee Jun Seok, and 0.98% for Democratic Labor Party candidate Kwon Young Guk.

President-elect Lee received 17.28 million votes, surpassing the previous record of 16.39 million votes set by former President Yoon Suk Yeol in the last presidential election. The difference in the number of votes between Lee and Kim was more than 2.89 million.

The term of President-elect Lee begins at the moment when the National Election Commission holds a plenary session between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and officially confirms his election.

At around 1:20 a.m., President-elect Lee delivered his acceptance speech, stating, "I will overcome the first mission entrusted to me by the people, which is to overcome the rebellion." At around 1:30 a.m., candidate Kim stated, "I humbly accept the choice of the people," conceding the result.

In this election, the call to judge former President Yoon Suk Yeol was particularly strong. In particular, the 12·3 martial law declaration incident last year became a decisive factor that led to the loss of support from centrist voters. The People Power Party tried to create divisions by focusing on President-elect Lee's 'judicial risk,' but was unable to overcome the desire for regime change.