Now, then, we are a little hidden from this election, but the by-election for the National Assembly is also being held. There are 5 constituencies. Let’s connect one of those places. Let’s go to the office of candidate Choi Jae-hyeong, who is currently the 1st in the Jongno by-election, and former chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection.
Reporter Bae Jung-jin is out. Reporter Bae, I can see some people behind me. Has the candidate arrived?
[기자]
Candidate Jae-hyung Choi is still watching the ballot count at home.
It was originally planned to arrive at the election office here around 10 pm to meet the supporters, but it was reported that the departure was delayed as the counting process was delayed.
Supporters have been gathering at the Choi Jae-hyung election office from around 7:00 in the evening to wait for the counting results.
In the Jongno by-election here, candidate Choi Jae-hyeong, a former chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and independent candidate Kim Young-jong, who served as the 3rd term mayor of the Democratic Party, and Bae Bok-joo, vice president of the Justice Party, were running.
Because the counting is very early and the close match is, the candidates for the first place are running up and down. It’s still difficult to predict a win.
First of all, two candidates, Choi Jae-hyung and Kim Young-jong, are competing.
We’ve heard the stories of the two candidates, and Jaehyung Choi’s side is confident of victory, saying that he met the residents while running without a break for even 30 minutes during the last 22 days of the election campaign.
In addition, as candidate Kim Young-jong has served as the mayor of the ward for 12 years, he is expecting a positive result, saying that the public opinion is on the side of candidate Kim.
[앵커]
i See. First of all, Candidate Jae-hyung Choi has been in first place so far, but it is a close bipartisan battle with Candidate Young-jong Kim. What regarding the counting of other re-registration districts?
[기자]
Among the remaining four locations except Jongno, the Democratic Party did not run candidates in Cheongju and Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, where members of the Democratic Party lost their seats.
In these two places, the People’s Strength candidates Jung Woo-taek and Kim Hak-yong, respectively, have the upper hand from the beginning of the counting.
On the other hand, People’s Power did not put out candidates in Jungnam-gu, Daegu, where former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do resigned.
Independent Candidate Lim Byung-hun is currently in first place, and Democratic Party candidate Baek Su-beom is currently in second place, but the difference is not large.
In Seochogap, Seoul, the only confrontation between candidates from both the ruling and opposition parties is being held.
It is currently in the early stages of counting, but the two candidates faced each other in the 2018 local elections.
At that time, in the election where candidate Cho was competing for the seat of mayor of Seocho-gu, he had defeated Lee by 11.3 percentage points.