SEOUL, June 03 (AJP) - The Democratic Party broke into cheers Tuesday night after exit poll results showed its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung taking over 50 percent of the vote, putting him more than 10 percentage points ahead of conservative rival Kim Moon-soo.
At the vote monitoring room set up in the main conference hall of the National Assembly Members’ Office Building, campaign staff and senior party officials began trickling in just after 7 p.m., an hour before the exit poll results were released.
The mood was cautiously hopeful, buoyed by a higher turnout than in the last presidential election, but no one let their guard down.
When the clock struck 8 and the joint exit poll from public broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS flashed across screens, the room erupted. Lee’s projected lead sent dozens of party members to their feet, clapping and shouting. Some pumped their fists in the air. Others joined in a chant of “Lee Jae-myung!”
While the reaction was jubilant, senior figures including Yoon Yeo-joon, Park Chan-dae, and Jung Eun-kyeong kept their composure. They exchanged handshakes, a few hugs, and quiet words of encouragement, acknowledging the effort that had brought them to this point.
The energy in the room spiked again when regional exit poll results rolled out. Lee was shown to be leading comfortably in the capital region, including Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, prompting another wave of applause.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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