DPK Leads in 11 Areas, People Power Party in 1... Han Byung-do Says It Reflects Public Expectations, Song Eon-seok Says He Will Accept the Result Humbly

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[Financial News] After exit polls from the three major terrestrial broadcasters for the June 3 local elections — KBS, MBC, and SBS — showed the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) ahead in 11 of 16 races for heads of metropolitan local governments and the People Power Party ahead in one, Han Byung-do, co-chair of the election campaign committee, said the result reflected "the enthusiasm and desire for local governments that work." Song Eon-seok, another co-chair, said he would "humbly accept the people's choice," while also expressing disappointment.
In an interview with Yonhap News TV shortly after the exit poll results were announced on the 3rd, Han said that about four races were still highly competitive. "The results will have to be watched until the very end," he said. "It looks like we will have a sleepless night until dawn."
He said the DPK's advantage was also linked to the turnout, which exceeded 60% and marked the highest level on record for a local election. "The 8th local elections, which the DPK lost, had a turnout of 50.9%," Han said. "This reflects the enthusiasm and desire for new local governments and working local governments after the Yoon Suk Yeol government."
According to the exit polls, four of the 16 races were classified as toss-ups. On that, Han said, "A fierce contest is expected, and it is not easy to predict the outcome," but added, "I expect the desire to give strength to the Lee Jae-myung administration and build working local governments, so that if we work together for the full four-year term, we can produce results. I hope we will also see good results in those four races."
\r\n\r\nIn a JTBC interview, Song said, "In the last presidential election, a 12 percentage point gap eventually narrowed to 8 points, and there were also cases where Kim Moon-soo won in places that were initially projected as losses." He added, "We need to watch the final results overnight." JTBC projected five toss-up races.
He strongly condemned reports of ballot shortages at some polling stations. "Coincidentally, ballot shortages occurred in areas where our party has strong support," Song said. "A thorough investigation is needed, and at the very least, vote counting should be suspended in the Seoul area. In Germany, there have even been cases where elections were invalidated because of such poor election management."
He also criticized President Lee Jae-myung, saying, "There is regret over the blatant use of state power for electioneering and involvement in the election."
haeram@fnnews.com Lee Hae-ram Reporter