[President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol] Lee narrowly loses by the smallest margin in history... "Yoon, please open an era of unity and harmony"

Lee Admits Defeat Around 3:50 AM... "All Responsibility Lies Solely With Me"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is holding a concession press conference for the presidential election on the 10th at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, conceded defeat on the 10th, acknowledging the election result as the 'narrowest margin in presidential election history,' and said, "I congratulate candidate Yoon Seok-yeol. I earnestly ask the president-elect to open an era of unity and harmony beyond division and conflict," thereby accepting his loss.

At around 3:50 a.m. on the day when the vote count exceeded 97%, Lee held a press conference at the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, stating, "To the people, we did our best but failed to meet expectations," and added, "This is not your defeat, nor the Democratic Party's defeat; all responsibility lies solely with me."

He also said, "I still believe in our people. Our people were great." He continued, "Despite the COVID-19 crisis, the people showed a high level of democratic awareness with a high voter turnout. As long as you are here, the Republic of Korea will continue to move forward."

He expressed gratitude to party members and supporters who campaigned with him. Lee said, "I apologize to the many citizens nationwide who put their daily lives aside to vote, to the campaign team comrades who worked tirelessly day and night, to volunteers, party members, and supporters. I also express my thanks for your passionate interest."

Officials from Lee's side stated that he will take some time to recover physically and mentally and consider his future course of action. Contrary to initial expectations, the narrow defeat suggests a strong possibility of a political comeback. The final confirmed vote difference between President-elect Yoon and Lee was tallied at 247,077 votes.

However, from the Democratic Party's perspective, this presidential election loss is expected to put them at a disadvantage in the upcoming local elections in June. Since the constitutional amendment in 1987, conservative parties and Democratic Party-affiliated parties have alternated in power roughly every ten years. Yet, this defeat marks the first time a ruling party was replaced after only five years, a dishonor. It is anticipated that the Democratic Party will shift to an emergency committee system following the resignation of leader Song Young-gil and other leadership members.

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