[21st General Election] 'Big Match' Seoul Gwangjin Eul... Ko Min-jung and Oh Se-hoon "Humbly Wait" (Summary)

Gomin Jeong, the Democratic Party candidate (left in the photo) running for the 21st National Assembly election in Gwangjin-gu Eul, and Oh Se-hoon, the United Future Party candidate, along with his spouse, are casting their votes at a polling station in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, on the 15th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy reporters Yoo Byung-don and Lee Jung-yoon] On the 15th, Ko Min-jung, the Democratic Party candidate, and Oh Se-hoon, the United Future Party candidate, both running in Seoul Gwangjin-eul, one of the battlegrounds in the 21st National Assembly general election, cast their votes.

Ko visited the No. 1 polling station in Guui 3-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, at around 5:54 a.m. He wore a navy suit, black sneakers, and a white mask. Applying hand sanitizer to prevent COVID-19, Ko greeted citizens and was the 24th voter after the early-arriving citizens at the polling station.

Right after voting, he said, "Since elections are the flower of democracy, I hope all citizens exercise their precious vote," adding, "I have done everything I could, and now I will humbly wait for the results."

Oh arrived at the No. 2 polling station in Jayang 3-dong, Gwangjin-gu, his electoral district, at around 7:38 a.m. and cast his vote together with his wife, Song Hyun-ok. He wore a brown check jacket and a white mask.

He said, "I will wait with a praying heart and a humble mind, having done my best," and added, "Since I did my best, I expect that I might have received a few more votes." He also expressed regret, saying, "I think if the campaign period had been a bit longer, it might have worked more in my favor."

Seoul Gwangjin-eul is considered the fiercest big-match electoral district in this general election, as Ko, a former spokesperson for the Moon Jae-in administration's Blue House, faces off against Oh, a former mayor of Seoul. Because of this, both sides engaged in disputes until the final moments of the campaign. On the 8th, Oh's side reported to the election commission that Ko had produced campaign materials containing endorsements from a resident autonomy committee member who was not allowed to campaign. The Gwangjin-eul election commission requested a prosecution investigation the day before into Ko and three others, including his campaign manager, for violating the Public Official Election Act.

As Oh left the polling station, he said, "Ko Min-jung's violation of the election law was referred to the prosecution yesterday, but it takes two to three days for voters to fully understand this fact and vote accordingly," adding, "I regret that such measures were not taken before early voting to allow for accurate judgment." Ko did not respond to reporters' questions regarding the election law violation.

Four candidates, including Oh, ran in Gwangjin-eul. In the final pre-election polls, Ko led by a 10 percentage point margin. According to a survey conducted by MBC through Korea Research International on the 6th and 7th targeting 504 voters residing in Seoul Gwangjin-eul, Ko received 50.9% support, while Oh received 40.1%. In the last poll conducted by JTBC with Gallup Korea on the 6th, Ko had 49.6% support, and Oh had 39.4%. For detailed information, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

Meanwhile, as of 9 a.m. on the day, the voter turnout in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, was 7.7%, below the Seoul average of 8.1%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.