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Ex-PM Lee Nak-yon suffers huge loss to DP incumbent in Gwangsan-B

Published: 11 Apr. 2024, 08:32 Updated: 11 Apr. 2024, 11:08

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

Democratic Party incumbent candidate Min Hyung-bae, left, and Saemirae Party leader Lee Nak-yon during their campaigns for a parliamentary seat in Gwangsan-B District in Gwangju. [YONHAP]

Incumbent Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Min Hyung-bae clinched a landslide victory over his rival, Lee Nak-yon, leader of the Saemirae Party, for Gwangsan-B District in Gwangju.

Min secured 76.09 percent of the votes, while Lee lagged far behind with only 13.84 percent.

Voter turnout in Gwangsan District, which includes electoral districts Gwangsan-A and B, stood at 67 percent, with 217,646 ballots cast.

Lee's substantial defeat by Min may jeopardize his political future.

Lee, a former prime minister under the Moon Jae-in administration, is one of the most prominent antagonists of DP leader Lee Jae-myung on the left. Lee broke from the party to create the Saemirae Party in February.

Min, a journalist-turned-politician, won the 2020 general election in Gwangsan-B District. He served as the district mayor of Gwangsan District from 2010 to 2018.

According to joint exit poll results released by the three terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS after the polls closed, Min was projected to win the race by a whopping 55 percentage point margin, with 72.5 percent against Lee’s 17.4 percent.

The poll surveyed 359,750 voters at 1,980 polling stations nationwide as voting was underway and had a 95-percent confidence interval with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 to 7.4 percentage points.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]