Lee Jae-myung Confirmed as President-Elect of South Korea
On June 4, 2025, Lee Jae-myung (이재명), the candidate from the Democratic Party of Korea (더불어민주당), was officially declared the winner of the presidential election, securing 48.8% of the votes. This marks a significant political shift after three years, as Lee also set a record for the highest number of votes received by a presidential candidate in South Korean history.
As of 2:50 AM on June 4, the National Election Commission reported a vote count of 96.23%, with Lee Jae-myung receiving 48.99% of the votes, while Kim Moon-soo (김문수) from the People Power Party (국민의힘) garnered 41.78%. Other candidates included Lee Jun-seok (이준석) from the Reform Party, who received 8.15%, and Kwon Young-guk (권영국) from the Democratic Labor Party, with 0.97%.
Lee Jae-myung has already surpassed the previous record of 16,394,815 votes set by former President Yoon Suk-yeol (윤석열) in the last election, with a current total of 16,494,696 votes.
On June 3, exit polls conducted by major broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS predicted that Lee would receive 51.7% of the votes, while Kim was expected to receive 39.3%. The exit poll was conducted by the Joint Prediction Survey Committee (KEP) across 325 polling stations, involving 80,146 voters, with a margin of error of ±0.8% at a 95% confidence level.
In a statement made in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of June 4, Lee expressed his gratitude to the citizens of the Republic of Korea, stating, "I sincerely thank the citizens of our democratic republic. I will not forget the mission you have entrusted to me and will fulfill it without any deviation."
Kim Moon-soo acknowledged his defeat around 1:30 AM at the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido, stating, "I humbly accept the people's choice."
