April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea is likely to take the presidency in a landslide win, exit poll figures showed on May 9.

The exit poll conducted by the three terrestrial broadcasters -- KBS, MBC and SBS -- indicated that Moon received 41.4 percent of the votes to win the election. Polls closed at 8 p.m. and ballot counting is yet to begin.

If the figures are correct, it will mark the return of a liberal administration after just under 10 years of conservative governments.

Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party received 23.3 percent of the votes while Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party took 21.8 percent. Sim Sang-jeung of the left-wing Justice Party recieved 5.9 percent of the votes, while the figure for Yoo Seong-min of the minor conservative Bareun Party came to 7.1 percent.

The outcome of the election, based on the real votes, is expected to take shape around midnight.

By Choi He-suk/The Korea Herald (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)