PPP Situation Room Falls Silent at 'Leading in 1 Region' Exit Poll... Song: "We Humbly Accept the People's Choice"

People Power Party Watches Exit Polls with Stern Expressions
Chairman Jang Remains at His Seat for Over 30 Minutes Before Leaving

Leading Only in Gangwon... Even Daegu, a Traditional Stronghold, Is a Close Race
Chairman Song: "We Must Wai

"The Democratic Party leads in 11 regions, the People Power Party in 1, and 4 are too close to call."

On June 3, the day of the 9th nationwide local elections, the vote-counting situation room set up at the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, fell into sudden silence at 6 p.m. after the exit poll results from the three major terrestrial broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS) were announced.

Jang Donghyuk, Standing Election Countermeasures Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, closes his eyes after the broadcast exit poll announcement at the vote-counting situation room prepared at the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido on June 3, 2026. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Jang Donghyuk, Standing Election Countermeasures Committee Chairman, arrived at the situation room just before the exit poll announcement, wearing a pink tie and a red jumper. Despite the results falling short of expectations, he maintained a neutral expression, clasped his hands, and continued to stare at the monitor. Song Eunseok, Co-Chairman of the Election Committee, also kept a stern expression without any noticeable movement. While Jang and Song, seated side by side, exchanged a brief conversation immediately after the announcement, they soon returned to simply staring straight ahead.

Other People Power Party lawmakers and members of the central election committee similarly watched the broadcast with expressionless faces, barely speaking to each other. Occasionally, the sound of a sigh could be heard. Jang remained motionless, staring at the monitor for about 30 minutes after the exit poll release, before standing up. Although reporters followed closely behind, he left the scene without making any comments.

The People Power Party expressed disappointment with the exit poll results but noted that they needed to monitor the vote-counting process. In an interview with KBS, Song stated, "We humbly accept the people's choice," but added, "For fiercely contested regions, we will not know the results until the very end of the vote count." Regarding the close race in Daegu, traditionally a stronghold, he said, "The nomination process was not smooth," and apologized to the citizens of Daegu.

Jang Donghyuk, Standing Election Countermeasures Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, and Song Eunseok, Co-Chairman of the Election Committee, are seated in the vote counting situation room prepared at the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido on June 3, 2026. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

The People Power Party showed a lead only in North Gyeongsang Province according to the exit polls. Lee Cheolwoo, the party's candidate for North Gyeongsang Governor, recorded 69.7%, far ahead of Oh Jungki, the Democratic Party candidate, who received 30.3%. In Gangwon Province, considered a battleground, Democratic Party candidate Woo Sangho led with 51.3%, closely followed by People Power Party candidate Kim Jin-tae at 48.7%. In South Chungcheong Province, where Jang concentrated his campaign efforts, Democratic Party candidate Park Soo-hyun led with 52.1% over Kim Tae-heum, who had 47.9%.

Meanwhile, People Power Party lawmakers in the situation room expressed strong reactions to the shortage of ballot papers reported after 4 p.m. at polling stations in Songpa, Gwangjin, and Gangnam districts of Seoul.

Jung Heeyong, Head of the Election Headquarters, stated, "We will never overlook the previous controversy over the President revealing his ballot outside the booth or the shortage of ballot papers." Shin Dongwook, Chair of the Fair Election Safe Voting Committee, visited the National Election Commission to lodge a protest.

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