Chungcheong Proves to Be the "Barometer of Public Sentiment" in the 21st Presidential Election

President Lee Wins 55.62% in Sejong
48.50% in Daejeon, 47.68% in Chungnam,
and 47.47% in Chungbuk

Lee Jae Myung, the president-elect of the 21st presidential election, is entering the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 4th to express his gratitude to the campaign committee chairpersons. Photo by Kim Hyun Min

Chungcheong has once again proven itself as the "barometer of public sentiment" in the 21st presidential election.

According to the National Election Commission on June 4, in the 21st presidential election held the previous day, President Lee Jae Myung secured 48.50% of the vote in Daejeon, 55.62% in Sejong, 47.68% in South Chungcheong (Chungnam), and 47.47% in North Chungcheong (Chungbuk), ranking first in all regions of Chungcheong.

This result avenged the defeat in the Chungcheong region during the 20th presidential election. In the 20th election, except for Sejong, Yoon Suk Yeol outperformed Lee Jae Myung in Daejeon, Chungnam, and Chungbuk. President-elect Yoon received 464,060 votes (49.6%) in Daejeon, 101,491 votes (44.1%) in Sejong, 670,283 votes (51.1%) in Chungnam, and 511,919 votes (50.7%) in Chungbuk, totaling 1,747,755 votes in the Chungcheong region.

In contrast, Lee Jae Myung received 434,950 votes (46.4%) in Daejeon, 119,349 votes (51.9%) in Sejong, 589,991 votes (45.0%) in Chungnam, and 455,852 votes (45.1%) in Chungbuk, totaling 1,601,143 votes.

However, the 21st presidential election was different. In this election, President Lee secured 470,321 votes (48.50%) out of 977,609 valid votes in Daejeon, surpassing Kim Moon Soo of the People Power Party, who received 393,549 votes (40.58%).

President Lee overwhelmingly defeated Kim Moon Soo in all districts of Daejeon: Dong-gu with 48.23% (70,915 votes), Jung-gu with 47.26% (71,677 votes), Seo-gu with 48.30% (148,720 votes), Yuseong-gu with 49.51% (123,402 votes), and Daedeok-gu with 48.84% (55,607 votes). Kim Moon Soo received 42.20% (62,048 votes) in Dong-gu, 43.41% (65,844 votes) in Jung-gu, 40.55% (124,865 votes) in Seo-gu, 37.49% (93,434 votes) in Yuseong-gu, and 41.60% (47,358 votes) in Daedeok-gu.

In Sejong, out of a total of 254,695 valid votes, 140,620 votes (55.62%) went to President Lee. Kim Moon Soo received 83,965 votes (33.31%), resulting in a vote rate difference of 22.31 percentage points.

In Chungbuk, President Lee ranked first with 501,990 votes (47.47%) out of 1,065,558 valid votes. Kim Moon Soo recorded 457,065 votes (43.22%), a gap of 4.25 percentage points.

President Lee won in 8 out of 14 electoral districts in Chungbuk: Cheongju Sangdang-gu (48.82%), Cheongju Seowon-gu (47.38%), Cheongju Heungdeok-gu (49.49%), Cheongju Cheongwon-gu (50.46%), Chungju (46.04%), Eumseong (48.96%), Jincheon (52.38%), and Jeungpyeong (47.85%).

Lee Jae Myung, the elected candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul on the 4th. Photo by Kim Hyun Min

In Chungnam, out of a total of 1,839,339 registered voters, 1,397,521 participated in the election, resulting in a turnout rate of 76.0%. This is 3.4 percentage points lower than the national average turnout rate of 79.4%, but 2.3 percentage points higher than Chungnam's turnout rate (73.7%) in the 20th presidential election.

President Lee Jae Myung received 47.68% (661,316 votes). Compared to the national vote rate of 49.92%, this is 2.24 percentage points lower, but compared to the Democratic Party's vote rate in Chungnam during the previous election (44.96%), it is 2.72 percentage points higher.

Kim Moon Soo of the People Power Party recorded a vote rate of 43.26% (600,108 votes). Compared to the national vote rate of 41.15%, this is 2.11 percentage points higher, but it is 7.82 percentage points lower than the People Power Party's vote rate in Chungnam (51.08%) during the previous election.

President Lee received more votes than Kim Moon Soo in the following districts: Cheonan-si Seobuk-gu (Democratic Party 50.44%, a difference of 12.42 percentage points), Cheonan-si Dongnam-gu (Democratic Party 48.36%, 6.56 percentage points), Asan-si (Democratic Party 51.06%, 12.46 percentage points), Seosan-si (Democratic Party 48.11%, 5.29 percentage points), Nonsan-si (Democratic Party 48.65%, 4.59 percentage points), Gyeryong-si (Democratic Party 46.73%, 3.50 percentage points), and Dangjin-si (Democratic Party 50.56%, 9.16 percentage points), totaling seven districts.

On the other hand, Kim Moon Soo of the People Power Party received more votes in the following nine regions: Gongju-si (People Power Party 47.34%, a difference of 2.29 percentage points), Boryeong-si (People Power Party 50.23%, 7.53 percentage points), Taean-gun (People Power Party 50.32%, 7.14 percentage points), Geumsan-gun (People Power Party 48.95%, 4.25 percentage points), Buyeo-gun (People Power Party 52.24%, 10.73 percentage points), Seocheon-gun (People Power Party 47.83%, 1.67 percentage points), Hongseong-gun (People Power Party 46.41%, 1.20 percentage points), Cheongyang-gun (People Power Party 54.07%, 15.07 percentage points), and Yesan-gun (People Power Party 55.15%, 17.47 percentage points).