Chong Won-o, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Seoul mayor in the June 3 local elections, on the 4th acknowledged defeat, saying, "I humbly and solemnly accept the choice of the citizens. I fell short, and everything is my fault." During the party primary, Lee Jae-myung's "public praise" propelled Chong past sitting lawmakers running as preliminary candidates and elevated him as the strong favorite, but a dramatic last-minute reversal in the vote count left him short of winning back Seoul.
On the morning of the same day at his campaign headquarters, Chong issued a statement conceding the race and said, "I am sorry for failing to meet the expectations of the citizens who trusted and joined me, as well as the campaign staff and party comrades." He added, "I extend my congratulations to Oh Se-hoon on his victory," and said, "I will not forget the warmth you showed, the hands you grasped on the streets, and the support you gave to the end."
According to the National Election Commission, as of 10 a.m. that day, People Power Party candidate Oh Se-hoon secured victory with 49.02% of the vote, edging out Chong Won-o, who had 48.26%. With 98.45% of ballots counted, the gap between the two was 39,538 votes.
In the early count that began around 6:20 p.m. the previous day, Chong led Oh by as much as 30 percentage points. But after midnight, the gap between the two narrowed rapidly. Around 2 a.m., the margin shrank to within 5 percentage points, and at 7:17 a.m., their standings flipped.
With a late golden cross, Oh Se-hoon became the "first five-term Seoul mayor in history." At a news conference at his campaign headquarters the same day, he said, "This election is a victory for common sense," adding, "The citizens of Seoul have affirmed the democratic first principle of checks and balances." In particular, he said he would attend his first Cabinet meeting after the victory to point out problems in the Lee Jae-myung administration's real estate policies, saying, "I am convinced the sharp drop in jeonse supply and the surge in monthly rent are side effects of real estate policies focused only on the election."
In this election, a "shortage of ballots" occurred at 14 polling stations, including in Songpa, Gangnam, Gwangjin, and Dongjak in Seoul. Regarding this, Oh said, "It seems as if the Election Commission must bear all responsibility, but in the end, everything is the president's responsibility," and called for a restructuring tantamount to dismantling the National Election Commission.
He continued, "As a candidate, I express deep regret over this situation, which undermines the fundamentals of democracy and infringes on citizens' suffrage," adding, "Just because citizens achieved a great victory does not mean we can sweep this serious flaw under the rug as if nothing happened. We must identify what went wrong and follow up with fundamental remedies."