People Power Party shouting "Manse"... 'Festival Atmosphere' over Exit Poll Results

Kwon Seong-dong Floor Leader "Exit Poll Results Came Out Beyond Expectations"

Representative Lee Jun-seok of the People Power Party, Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong, and other lawmakers are cheering as they watch the exit poll announcement in the vote counting situation room set up in the National Assembly Library auditorium on the 1st. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Bom Ryeong Geum, Hyunji Kwon] "10, 9, 8, 7, ..., 3, 2, 1, Banzai"

At 7:30 PM on the 1st, when the exit poll results from the three major broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS) for the 8th nationwide simultaneous local elections were announced, the People Power Party leadership, holding each other's hands and watching the broadcast screen, stood up together and raised their hands high, shouting "Banzai" as the exit polls predicted a landslide victory for the People Power Party in the 17 metropolitan mayoral elections.

As the exit poll results by region were announced, they clenched their fists and chanted the candidates' names. The lawmakers smiled broadly, high-fived each other, or embraced, enjoying the festive atmosphere. Although there were short sighs when regions such as Honam and Jeju showed unfavorable results, they resumed calling out the candidates' names, shouting "Well done, well done." Co-Head of the Joint Campaign Committee Kim Ki-hyun even bounced with excitement, saying "We won."

When asked about the exit polls from the three broadcasters during a meeting with reporters, Kwon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said, "We predicted a certain level of victory in this local election, but the exit poll results came out better than expected." He explained, "Many citizens believe that since the Yoon Seok-yeol government has only been in office for 20 days, they need to support the People Power Party in this local election so that the Yoon Seok-yeol government can govern well for the next five years. I analyze that this strong intention to support the Yoon Seok-yeol government is reflected in the exit poll results." According to the exit polls from the three broadcasters, the People Power Party was leading in 10 of the 17 metropolitan mayoral elections, the Democratic Party in 4, and 3 were competitive.

Kwon named 'Gyeonggi' as the most impressive region. He said, "In the last presidential election, Yoon Seok-yeol trailed by 5 percentage points in Gyeonggi Province. This time, we fielded Kim Eun-hye as the Gyeonggi governor candidate, and we identified Gyeonggi as the most strategic and fiercely contested area, so we concentrated our party's efforts there." He added, "I campaigned so many times that I can't even remember, and lawmakers dispatched considerable staff to Kim Eun-hye's campaign. The party made an all-out effort. The exit polls show a narrow lead, so we see this as 'our efforts paid off'." According to the exit polls from the three broadcasters, Kim Eun-hye received 49.4%, and Kim Dong-yeon of the Democratic Party received 48.8% in the Gyeonggi governor race.

Regarding the by-election for the National Assembly seat in Incheon Gyeyang-eul, where Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung was leading, Kwon said, "Incheon Gyeyang-eul is a Democratic Party stronghold, and former lawmaker Song Young-gil was elected five times there." He added, "The party's all-out effort narrowed the gap significantly, which is meaningful, but it seems the Democratic Party's full support for candidate Lee was not enough to overturn the result."

Along with this, Kwon emphasized 'humility.' He said, "It's not that our party was so great that people supported us, but the Democratic Party made various mistakes during the Moon Jae-in administration, which led to a regime change after five years in the presidential election." He continued, "Since the regime change has only been 20 days, people voted for the People Power Party believing that President Yoon Seok-yeol and his government would succeed. Therefore, it is crucial to always serve the people with a humble attitude, understand their intentions, and align politics accordingly to gain public support in future general and other elections." Kwon added, "We will continue to understand public sentiment well and do our best to practice politics that meet the people's expectations."

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