Lee Jae-myung Elected as President of South Korea with Record Votes

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 in South Korea after three years, as Lee's victory also sets a record for the highest number of votes received by a presidential candidate in the country's 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 tally 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.

Upon confirmation of his victory, 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 fail."

In a concession speech, Kim Moon-soo acknowledged the results, stating, "I humbly accept the choice of the people, and I respect their decision."