Andong bustles with excitement over hometown boy Lee Jae-myung's projected election win

Home > National > 2025 Presidential Election

Andong bustles with excitement over hometown boy Lee Jae-myung's projected election win

Published: 03 Jun. 2025, 21:41 Updated: 03 Jun. 2025, 22:19

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Residents of Dochon-ri in Yean-myeon, Andong, North Gyeongsang -- the hometown of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung -- cheer as they watch exit poll results for the 21st presidential election inside a storage room at the village senior center on June 3, 2025. [NEWS1]

ANDONG, North Gyeongsang — “Our Jaemaengi is No. 1!”

At 8 p.m. on Tuesday — Election Day for Korea’s 21st president — cheers erupted at the senior center in Dochon-ri, Andong, North Gyeongsang as the residents shouted out the name of Democratic Party's presidential election candidate Lee Jae-myung by his name in the colloquial Gyeongsang dialect, Jaemaeng.

After a full day of voting from 6 a.m., residents burst into applause and excitement as the exit poll jointly conducted by Korea’s three major broadcasters showed Lee leading by a wide margin.

Take Lee home, country road

According to the exit poll, Lee was projected to take 51.7 percent of the vote, followed by Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party with 39.3 percent, Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party with 7.7 percent, and Kwon Young-guk of the Democratic Labor Party with 1.3 percent.

Lee Jae-myung’s projected lead over Kim was a decisive 12.4 percentage points and Dochon, home to many supporters of Lee, was electric with excitement.

“President Lee Jae-myung!” chanted the residents, toasting with makgeolli, Korean rice wine, they had prepared in advance.

Residents of Dochon-ri in Yean-myeon, Andong, North Gyeongsang ? the hometown of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung -- cheer as they watch exit poll results for the 21st presidential election inside a storage room at the village senior center on June 3, 2025. [JOONGANG ILBO]

“I’m overwhelmed — someone from our village becoming president,” said 67-year-old resident Shin Sang-jun with a flushed face. “I think tourists will start coming here, and a lot will change for the better.”

Lee was born in 1963 in Jitongma — also known as Jichon, or “Paper Village” — one of the most remote hamlets within Dochon Village, which also includes Saraesil, Pyeongjima, Saemot, Teotgol and Gilgol.

In his autobiography “Lee Jae-myung’s Curved Arm” (2017), he recalled Dochon as a “deep mountain village where people farmed fields carved out of the hillsides.” Getting to a hospital required walking over a mountain and taking a long bus ride to the neighboring Yeongyang County, a journey that took half a day. Even today, Jitongma remains a transportation blind spot with no city bus service.

Residents could hardly contain their pride.

“Who would’ve thought we’d live to see this day?” said locals.

“Jae-myung was always smart,” said Kim Je-ho, 63, a senior at Samgye Elementary School, which is now Wolgok Elementary School’s Samgye branch that Lee attended. “He’ll make a great president.”

Jo Seong-ho, 63, expressed hope that Lee would improve local infrastructure.

“If our junior Lee becomes president, I hope he’ll fix the poor road conditions and unsafe traffic systems here in his hometown,” he said. Geum Jeom-yong, 73, added, “Most of us here grow apples or chili peppers — we’d like the government to stabilize crop prices.”

In the previous 2022 presidential election, Lee earned 108 votes — just one less than then-candidate Yoon Suk-yeol — at the No. 2 polling station in Yean-myeon, securing 47.79 percent of the vote. His local roots had clearly influenced residents’ choices.

Residents of Dochon-ri in Yean-myeon, Andong, North Gyeongsang ? the hometown of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung ? cheer as they watch exit poll results for the 21st presidential election inside a storage room at the village senior center on June 3, 2025. [NEWS1]

Dochon-ri in Yean-myeon, Andong, North Gyeongsang ? the hometown of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung [JOONGANG ILBO]

This year, two days before this year’s vote, Lee visited Andong to underscore his ties to the region.

“I was born in Andong, raised on its water, rice and grass,” he said on Monday in the city. “My parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and ancestors are all buried here, and I too will be buried in Andong. It’s where I began and where I’ll end.”

Lee’s final campaign push in the traditionally conservative Gyeongsang region was both symbolic and strategic. Residents are now hoping that the new president’s promises to his hometown will be fulfilled.

“It’s a great honor for our village that someone from this tiny mountain valley became president,” said Kim Chang-su, 65, of Jitongma. “I just hope our new president works selflessly for the people and leads the country well.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM JUNG-SEOK [[email protected]]