Jamsil ballot boxes included after police intervention; Oh takes 49.22% to Jeong's 48.07%
Vote counting for the June 3 local elections wrapped up Friday, ending a delay caused by a ballot paper shortage.
The final tally was completed after two ballot boxes — held up when protesters blocked their transfer to the counting center — were eventually moved with police assistance and their results incorporated.
The two boxes contained ballots cast by approximately 2,000 voters at Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
With the Songpa-gu count finalized, the citywide results for Seoul were confirmed. In the Seoul mayoral race, People Power Party candidate Oh Se-hoon won with 49.22 percent of the vote, defeating Democratic Party of Korea candidate Jeong Won-oh, who received 48.07 percent — a margin of 1.15 percentage points, or 60,259 votes. Oh received 2,575,819 votes to Jeong's 2,515,560.
Oh had already secured his fifth term Thursday after Jeong conceded defeat, regardless of the outstanding Jamsil 7-dong count. However, the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission had not issued a formal declaration of victory at that point, as counting had not yet been completed.
bigroot@heraldcorp.com
