2017 South Korean presidential election

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2017 South Korean presidential election

← 2012 9 May 2017 2022 →
Turnout77.23% (Increase1.39)
 
Nominee Moon Jae-in Hong Jun-pyo Ahn Cheol-soo
Party Democratic Liberty Korea People
Popular vote 13,423,800 7,852,849 6,998,342
Percentage 41.09% 24.04% 21.42%

 
Nominee Yoo Seung-min Sim Sang-jung
Party Bareun Justice
Popular vote 2,208,771 2,017,458
Percentage 6.76% 6.17%


President before election

Hwang Kyo-ahn
Acting
Independent

Elected President

Moon Jae-in
Democratic

Early presidential elections were held in South Korea on 9 May 2017 following the impeachment and removal of Park Geun-hye.[1] The elections were conducted in a single round, on a first-past-the-post basis, and had originally been scheduled for 20 December 2017. However, they were brought forward after the decision of the Constitutional Court on 10 March 2017 to uphold the National Assembly's impeachment of Park. Following procedures set out in the Constitution of South Korea, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn succeeded Park as the acting president. After Park was removed from office by the Constitutional Court's ruling, acting president Hwang announced he would not run for a term in his own right.[2][3][4]

Opinion polling before April consistently placed the Democratic Party's candidate, Moon Jae-in, runner-up in the 2012 election, as the front-runner. Second place in the opinion polls was initially held by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who declined to run in February, followed by Ahn Hee-jung, whilst he lost the Democratic primaries to Moon. Support for People Party founder Ahn Cheol-soo then surged, threatening Moon's lead in the polls throughout early April, before descending to approximately equal that of Liberty Korea Party's candidate, Hong Jun-pyo, in final polls.

Moon won the election with 41 percent of the vote, defeating his nearest opponent, Hong, by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Under the Constitution of South Korea, if a president dies, resigns, or is removed by impeachment, a new election must take place within 60 days. As a result, unlike previous presidential elections, president-elect Moon took office immediately upon the confirmation of the result by the National Election Commission, with the inauguration at the National Assembly on the same day.

Background[edit]

Park Geun-hye of the conservative Saenuri Party (renamed just prior to the election in February 2017 as the Liberty Korea Party) won the previous presidential election in 2012, succeeding Lee Myung-bak of the same party.

The Saenuri Party lost the parliamentary election in April 2016, with opposition parties including liberal Democratic Party of Korea and People Party winning a majority in the National Assembly. Commentators described the result as leaving Park a lame duck president, as she may not run again under South Korea's one-term presidency rule.[5][6][7] and the Nikkei Asian Review noted that, in the wake of her "crushing defeat", "rivals sense a prime opportunity to complete the power shift in the December 2017 presidential vote".[5] The Korea Times stated: "The drama of deals and power struggles for next year's election has already begun."[8]

Impeachment of President Park Geun-hye[edit]

On 9 December 2016, President Park was impeached by the National Assembly by a vote of 234 for and 56 against (with seven invalid votes and two abstentions) after her implication in the 2016 South Korean political scandal. The Constitutional Court reviewed the motion of impeachment.

On 10 March 2017, Park was formally removed from office, with a unanimous ruling by all eight of the Constitutional Court's justices supporting her impeachment. A presidential election would have to be held within 60 days. In the interim, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn succeeded Park and served out the remainder of the 18th term until election day.[citation needed]

The presidential election had previously been scheduled for 20 December, with Park barred from running due to the constitutional ban on any sort of presidential reelection. However, with Park's removal from office, the elections were brought forward to 9 May in order to ensure that a new president would be able to take office within 60 days of Park's removal, as required by the Constitution.

Registered candidates[edit]

Campaign posters for the 15 candidates

The six parties represented in the National Assembly are the social liberal Democratic Party of Korea, the conservative Liberty Korea Party, the centrist People Party, the center-right Bareun Party, the progressive Justice Party, and pro-Park Geun-hye conservative Saenuri Party.

Ballot numbers for party candidates were given according to the candidate's party seat distribution in the National Assembly. Ballot numbers for independent and minor party candidates were determined through a random lottery by the National Election Commission.

A record number of 15 candidates registered, out of which two withdrew before election day.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (withdrew) 12 13 (withdrew) 14 15
Moon
Jae-in
Hong
Jun-pyo
Ahn
Cheol-soo
Yoo
Seung-min
Sim
Sang-jung
Cho
Won-jin
Oh
Young-guk
Chang
Sŏng-min
Lee
Jae-oh
Kim Seon-dong Nam
Jae-jun
Lee
Kyung-hee
Kim
Jung-son
Yoon
Hong-sik
Kim
Min-chan
  Democratic   Liberty Korea   People's   Bareun   Justice   Saenuri   Economic Patriots   Grand National United   Evergreen Korea   People's United   United Korea   Korean Nationalist   Future Korea Peninsula   Hongik   Independent

Nominations[edit]

Democratic Party[edit]

Candidate[edit]

Democratic Party of Korea
Democratic Party of Korea
Democratic Party candidate
Moon Jae-in
Leader of the
Democratic Party of Korea
(2015–2016)

Primary[edit]

Candidates were determined by an open primary of citizens who registered as a voter between February 15 to March 9, and March 12 to March 21. Overall, 2,144,840 people registered as a primary voter, making the 2017 primary the largest in Korean history.[9][10]

The primary was conducted from March 22 to April 3, with the voting base divided by four regions: Honam, Yeongnam, Hoseo and Seoul Capital Area, Gangwon Province, and Jeju Province as a single region. 71.6% of the registered voters voted in the primary, putting the vote total at 1,642,640.[10][11]

Candidates were:

Polling for the Democratic primary
Polling firm/Link Fieldwork date Sample
size
Lee Jae-myung Moon Jae-in Ahn Hee-jung Kim Boo-kyum Park Won-soon Kim Jong-in Choi Sung
Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.03.10 374 21.9% 52.7% 22.5% 0.4%
R&Search Archived 12 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine 17.02.27–17.02.28 1,111 15.5% 38.0% 29.8% 0.2%
Korea Research 17.02.05–17.02.06 2,016 8.8% 36.9% 26.2% 2.4%
Realmeter 17.02.01 528 13.9% 31.4% 23.7% 4.1% 3.7% 0.5%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.01.16–17.01.17 1,004 13.5% 32.8% 10.8% 5.6% 5.3% 5% 1.1%

Results[edit]

Candidate Place Votes Percentage
Moon Jae-in Nominated 936,419 57.0%
Ahn Hee-jung 2nd 353,631 21.5%
Lee Jae-myung 3rd 347,647 21.2%
Choi Sung 4th 4,943 0.3%
1,642,677 100%

Liberty Korea Party[edit]

Candidate[edit]

Liberty Korea Party
Liberty Korea Party
Liberty Korea Party candidate
Hong Jun-pyo
Governor of
South Gyeongsang Province
(2012–2017)

Primary[edit]

Candidate was determined by a combination of opinion polls, conducted between March 30 to March 31 (50%), and the votes cast by the delegates at the party convention held on March 31 (50%). Candidates were:

Results[edit]

Candidate Place Opinion Polls Delegate Votes Aggregated Result
Hong Jun-pyo Nominated 46.7% 62.9% 54.15%
Kim Jin-tae 2nd 17.5% 21.1% 19.30%
Lee In-je 3rd 24.6% 5.1% 14.85%
Kim Kwan-yong 4th 11.2% 12.2% 11.70%
100% 100% 100%

People's Party[edit]

Candidate[edit]

People Party (South Korea, 2016)
People Party (South Korea, 2016)
People's Party candidate
Ahn Cheol-soo
Leader of the
People Party
(2016)

Primary[edit]

Candidate was chosen by an open primary (80%) and an opinion poll conducted between April 4 and 5 (20%). The primary was conducted through March 25 to April 4, with 7 regional primaries being held. Ahn Cheol-soo was declared winner of the primary on April 4.[18] The candidate were:

Results[edit]

Candidate Place Votes Percentage
Ahn Cheol-soo Nominated 133,927 72.71%
Sohn Hak-kyu 2nd 35,696 19.38%
Park Joo-seon 3rd 14,561 6.92%
184,768 100%

Bareun Party[edit]

Candidate[edit]

Bareun Party candidate
Yoo Seong-min
Member of the
National Assembly
(2005– )

Primary[edit]

Candidate was determined by a combination of votes from an evaluation commission based on 4 debates, held in different region of the country (40%), votes from the party members (30%), and public opinion polls (30%). Candidates were:

Yoo Seong-min was nominated as the candidate of Baerun Party on March 28.[21]

Results[edit]

Candidate Place Votes Percentage
Yoo Seung-min Nominated 36,593 62.9%
Nam Kyung-pil 2nd 21,625 37.1%
58,218 100%

Justice Party[edit]

Candidate[edit]

Justice Party (South Korea)
Justice Party (South Korea)
Justice Party candidate
Sim Sang-jung
Leader of the
Justice Party
(2015– )

Primary[edit]

Candidates were determined by a closed voting of the party members. Candidates were:

  • Sim Sang-jung, Chairperson of the Justice Party (2015–present), member of the National Assembly for Goyang (2004– 2008, 2012–present) [22]
  • Kang Sang-goo, vice president of the Justice Party education institute

Sim Sang-jung was nominated as the candidate of the Justice Party on February 16.[23]

Results[edit]

Candidate Place Votes Percentage
Sim Sang-jung Nominated 8,209 80.7%
Kang Sang-goo 2nd 1,962 19.3%
10,239 100%

Other Nominations[edit]

Notable non-candidates[edit]

  • Hwang Kyo-ahn, acting President (2016–2017), Prime Minister (2015–2017), former Minister of Justice (2013–15) announced that he would not be running for the presidency on 15 March 2017.[2]
  • Kim Boo-kyum, member of the National Assembly for Daegu (2016–present), former member for Gunpo (2000–12),[5][12] announced that he would not be running for the presidency on 7 February 2017.[24]
  • Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations (2007–2016), was considering running as a non-partisan candidate but announced on 1 February 2017 that he would not be running for the presidency.[25][26][5][8]
  • Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul (2011–present), announced that he would not be running for the presidency on 26 January 2017.[27]
  • Oh Se-hoon, former Mayor of Seoul (2006–2011), announced that he would not be running for the presidency on 13 January 2017.[28]
  • Kim Moo-sung, former Chairman of the Saenuri Party (2014–2016), announced that he would not be running for the presidency on 24 November 2016.[29]

Campaign[edit]

Official campaign[edit]

The official campaign begun on April 17 and ended on midnight of May 8.[30]

Debates[edit]

South Korean Presidential Election, 2017
Date Organizers Moderators  P  Present  I  Invitee  NI  Non-invitee  A  Absent invitee Notes
Sim Sang-jung Moon Jae-in Ahn Cheol-soo Yoo Seung-min Hong Jun-pyo
14 April
10:00 KST
SBS
Journalists Association of Korea
Kim Sung-joon P P P P P [31][32][33][34]
19 April
22:00 KST
KBS Park Young-hwan P P P P P [34]
23 April
20:00 KST
NEC Kim Jin-suk P P P P P [34]
25 April
21:00 KST
JTBC
The Korean Political Science Association
Sohn Suk-hee P P P P P [34]
28 April
20:00 KST
NEC Park Yong-chan P P P P P [34]
2 May
20:00 KST
NEC Lee Jung-hee P P P P P [34]
Candidate viewed as "most convincing" in each debate
Debate Poll source Sim Sang-jung Moon Jae-in Ahn Cheol-soo Yoo Seong-min Hong Jun-pyo Notes
14 April Realmeter Archived 19 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine 12.2% 33.7% 21.7% 11.8% 9.6% [35]
JoonAng Ilbo[permanent dead link] 13.1% 22.3% 16.5% 25.0% 5.4%
Hankook Research[permanent dead link] 15.1% 21.2% 16.2% 28.1% 7.5%
19 April KSOI Archived 24 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine 21.9% 15.0% 11.1% 21.5% 6.5%
23 April JoonAng Ilbo Archived 1 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine 22.0% 17.4% 9.0% 23.7% 6.7%
Hankook Research 27.2% 12.6% 5.1% 22.1% 5.9%
25 April Hankook Research[permanent dead link] 40.6% 13.2% 6.1% 14.4% 9.9%
Gallup Korea 30% 18% 6% 14% 9%
28 April The Opinion 35.8% 13.5% 5.9% 14.6% 11.5%
JoongAng Ilbo 38.1% 11.5% 4.5% 16.6% 10.0%
Gallup Korea[permanent dead link] 34.8% 14.4% 4.4% 12.7% 13.3%
Research & Research[permanent dead link] 41.8% 9.3% 4.0% 18.4% 9.9%
Kantar[permanent dead link] 40.4% 11.8% 3.9% 19.2% 11.0%

Opinion polling[edit]

Opinion polls throughout 2017 showed Moon Jae-in as the leading candidate. Polls prior to the conclusion of the Democratic primary (which included his rivals to the nomination) had Moon at around 30% support, and polls conducted after he had won the primary showed generally consistent results of around 40% by April.

Polling showed a significant decline in support for Ahn Cheol-soo during April. While at the beginning of the month he was polling close to Moon, and even exceeded him in a few polls, by May his support had dropped to around 20%. This decline coincided with rising support for Hong Jun-pyo. By the time of the polling blackout period began on 3 May, Ahn and Hong were recording similar levels of support.

Opinion polling January–March 2017, includes persons who did not secure their party's nomination or declined to run
Opinion polling April–May 2017


Opinion polls in May 2017
Polling firm/Link Fieldwork date Sample
size
Sim Sang-jung Moon Jae-in Ahn Cheol-soo Yoo Seong-min Hong Jun-pyo
Justice Democratic People Bareun Liberty Korea
17.05.09 Election Day
17.05.04- 17.05.05 Early Voting
17.05.03- 17.05.09 Poll Blackout period
Embrain[permanent dead link] 17.05.02 2,058 7.2% 40.6% 17.8% 4.2% 19.6%
Research Plus[permanent dead link] 17.05.01–17.05.02 1,011 5.6% 39.7% 18.9% 4.6% 13.7%
Kantar[permanent dead link] 17.05.01–17.05.02 1,147 6.8% 38.5% 15.7% 3.8% 16.8%
[permanent dead link] Hankook Research 17.05.01–17.05.02 1,000 11.2% 38.0% 21.0% 4.0% 16.8%
JoWon C&I 17.05.01–17.05.02 1,035 8.7% 36.1% 22.3% 3.6% 16.9%
Research & Research 17.05.01–17.05.02 1,058 8.1% 40.2% 19.9% 5.7% 17.7%
Gallup Korea 17.05.01–17.05.02 1,015 8% 38% 20% 6% 16%
Yeouido Archived 12 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine 17.05.01–17.05.02 2,182 6.4% 39.4% 20.1% 4.5% 24.9%
Realmeter 17.05.01–17.05.02 1,016 7.3% 42.4% 18.6% 4.9% 18.6%
Hankook Research 17.05.01–17.05.02 1,000 8.4% 40.2% 19.7% 5.1% 16.2%
ResearchView[permanent dead link] 17.04.30–17.05.02 2,053 8.0% 43.2% 21.1% 4.8% 20.1%
MetriX 17.04.30–17.05.02 1,500 9.1% 39.2% 21.5% 4.3% 16.7%
Embrain 17.05.01 1,018 9.0% 38.6% 22.6% 3.7% 18.3%
JoWon C&I 17.04.30–17.05.01 1,046 8.7% 39.5% 23.9% 3.5% 18.4%
R&Search 17.04.30–17.05.01 1,961 8.7% 41.8% 19.4% 3.9% 21.2%
Research & Research 17.04.30–17.05.01 1,027 9.8% 39.7% 20.2% 5.1% 16.4%
JoongAng Ilbo 17.04.30–17.05.01 2,000 9.2% 39.3% 21.8% 4.9% 16.5%
Gallup Korea 17.04.30–17.05.01 3,077 8.4% 37.7% 19.1% 3.6% 14.9%
Opinion polls in April 2017
Polling firm/Link Fieldwork date Sample
size
Sim Sang-jung Moon Jae-in Ahn Cheol-soo Yoo Seong-min Hong Jun-pyo
Justice Democratic People Bareun Liberty Korea
Research & Research 17.04.29–17.04.30 1,004 8.1% 39.4% 20.8% 4.8% 16.2%
Hankook Research 17.04.29–17.04.30 1,000 11.4% 38.7% 23.4% 5.7% 14.4%
The Opinion 17.04.29–17.04.30 1,000 6.9% 37.3% 20.5% 4.9% 15.8%
[permanent dead link] STI 17.04.29–17.04.30 1,000 8.2% 46.0% 19.2% 4.8% 17.4%
Ace Research 17.04.29 1,023 7.6% 41.1% 21.5% 4.3% 20.8%
MetriX 17.04.28–17.04.29 1,000 7.2% 39.8% 21.0% 4.1% 15.4%
KSOI Archived 26 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine 17.04.28–17.04.29 1,000 8.6% 41.4% 22.1% 6.3% 16.6%
Realmeter 17.04.27–17.04.29 1,523 7.6% 42.6% 20.9% 5.2% 16.7%
17.04.28 Fifth presidential debate held by NEC
Gallup Korea 17.04.25–17.04.27 1,006 7% 40% 24% 4% 12%
ResearchView 17.04.25–17.04.27 1,418 6.8% 45.5% 23.7% 3.9% 15.3%
Hankook Research 17.04.25–17.04.26 2,000 7.5% 38.5% 25.2% 4.9% 12.3%
Realmeter 17.04.24–17.04.26 1,520 7.5% 44.4% 22.8% 5.4% 13.0%
17.04.25 Fourth presidential debate held by JTBC
Hankook Research 17.04.24–17.04.25 1,000 8.0% 40.4% 26.4% 5.1% 10.8%
R&Search 17.04.23–17.04.25 1,772 4.3% 44.3% 26.1% 4.6% 14.8%
MetriX 17.04.23–17.04.24 1,500 4.7% 40.3% 29.6% 3.4% 9.7%
JoongAng Ilbo 17.04.23–17.04.24 2,000 5.0% 39.8% 29.4% 4.4% 11.7%
JoWon C&I 17.04.22–17.04.24 1,010 3.8% 39.4% 31.1% 4.2% 13.9%
17.04.23 Third presidential debate held by NEC
Kantar 17.04.21–17.04.22 1,030 3.3% 37.5% 26.4% 2.9% 7.6%
KSOI Archived 24 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine 17.04.21–17.04.22 1,021 5.1% 42.5% 30.4% 5.7% 8.9%
Research & Research 17.04.21–17.04.22 1,514 4.1% 39.1% 30.1% 3.8% 9.5%
ResearchView 17.04.18–17.04.20 2,004 5.0% 43.3% 31.3% 3.8% 11.4%
Gallup Korea 17.04.18–17.04.20 1,004 4% 41% 30% 3% 9%
17.04.19 Second presidential debate held on KBS
Research & Research 17.04.18–17.04.19 1,009 4.7% 40.0% 30.1% 2.5% 10.2%
EMBRAIN 17.04.18–17.04.19 1,054 2.8% 40.9% 34.4% 2.7% 9.5%
Hankook Research 17.04.18–17.04.19 1,200 3.6% 42.0% 31.8% 3.9% 8.5%
Realmeter 17.04.17–17.04.18 1,012 4.2% 43.8% 32.3% 3.2% 10.2%
EMBRAIN 17.04.17 1,049 3.5% 37.7% 34.6% 3.4% 8.5%
JoWon C&I 17.04.15–17.04.16 1,063 3.2% 39.7% 32.8% 4.7% 13.1%
[permanent dead link] JoongAng Ilbo 17.04.15–17.04.16 2,000 3.7% 38.5% 37.3% 3.9% 7.4%
Hankook Research 17.04.15–17.04.16 1,000 3.9% 42.6% 35.6% 2.7% 7.3%
[permanent dead link] Kantar 17.04.14–17.04.15 1,039 2.8% 35.8% 30.2% 2.8% 8.4%
KSOI 17.04.14–17.04.15 1,015 2.9% 46.9% 34.4% 3.4% 6.8%
Realmeter Archived 19 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine 17.04.14 1,011 4.5% 45.4% 30.7% 3.8% 8.9%
17.04.13 First presidential debate held on SBS
ResearchView 17.04.12–17.04.13 1,253 3.0% 46.0% 36.5% 2.4% 8.8%
Gallup Korea 17.04.11–17.04.13 1,010 3% 40% 37% 3% 7%
Hankook Research 17.04.11–17.04.12 1,000 2.7% 38.0% 38.3% 2.1% 6.5%
Realmeter 17.04.10–17.04.12 1,525 2.8% 44.8% 36.5% 1.7% 8.1%
R&Search 17.04.09–17.04.11 1,997 3.6% 42.3% 37.0% 2.0% 9.1%
JoWon C&I 17.04.08–17.04.10 1,046 3.5% 40.6% 34.4% 2.9% 8.7%
Realmeter Archived 14 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine 17.04.08–17.04.09 1,018 4.2% 41.1% 34.8% 2.2% 8.6%
Korea Research Center 17.04.08–17.04.09 2,011 2.8% 32.7% 36.8% 1.5% 6.5%
Realmeter 17.04.07–17.04.08 2,244 3.3% 42.6% 37.2% 2.4% 8.4%
Hankook Research 17.04.07–17.04.08 1,000 3.6% 37.7% 37.0% 3.0% 6.7%
Research & Research 17.04.07–17.04.08 1,500 3.2% 35.2% 34.5% 2.8% 7.4%
KSOI Archived 9 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine 17.04.07–17.04.08 1,007 2.9% 39.6% 35.6% 2.7% 5.8%
Kantar 17.04.07–17.04.08 2,300 2.3% 32.2% 34.4% 1.9% 5.7%
Research Plus 17.04.07–17.04.08 1,023 2.0% 37.7% 37.7% 2.1% 6.6%
Gallup Korea 17.04.04–17.04.06 1,005 3% 38% 35% 4% 7%
ResearchView 17.04.04–17.04.06 1,012 2.2% 42.4% 35.1% 2.5% 10.3%
Realmeter 17.04.05 1,008 2.5% 41.3% 34.5% 3.0% 9.2%
Surveymob 17.04.04–17.04.05 1,048 2.74% 34.83% 28.91% 6.95% 8.09%
JoongAng Ilbo 17.04.04–17.04.05 1,500 2.1% 38.4% 34.9% 2.7% 9.6%
[permanent dead link] EMBRAIN 17.04.04 1,042 3.5% 38.2% 33.2% 2.7% 10.3%
Hankook Research 17.04.04 1,000 3.7% 39.1% 31.8% 3.8% 8.6%
R&Search 17.04.03–17.04.04 1,708 3.8% 40.8% 30.9% 2.8% 12.6%
Opinion polls in March 2017
Polling firm/Link Fieldwork date Sample
size
Sim Sang-jung Lee Jae-myung Moon Jae-in Ahn Hee-jung Ahn Cheol-soo Sohn Hak-kyu Yoo Seong-min Nam Kyung-pil Hwang Kyo-ahn Hong Jun-pyo
Justice Democratic Democratic Democratic People People Bareun Bareun Independent Liberty
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.03.27- 17.03.29 1,525 3.4% 9.5% 35.2% 12.0% 17.4% 2.4% 2.6% 7.7%
R&Search[permanent dead link] 17.03.27- 17.03.28 1,080 2.6% 11.2% 33.0% 12.6% 16.6% 0.6% 1.4% 0.7% 7.8%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.03.20- 17.03.24 2,553 2.9% 10.2% 34.4% 17.1% 12.6% 2.2% 2.2% 1.0% 9.5%
Gallup Korea[permanent dead link] 17.03.21- 17.03.23 1,007 2% 8% 31% 17% 10% 1% 1% 6%
R&Search[permanent dead link] 17.03.19- 17.03.21 1,589 2.0% 9.4% 33.2% 17.5% 11.2% 1.2% 2.4% 0.6% 7.7%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.03.15 1,015 4.1% 10.3% 37.1% 16.8% 12.0% 1.8% 4.8% 1.8% 7.1%
Hankook Research[permanent dead link] 17.03.14 1,000 1.1% 8.9% 30.7% 13.3% 8.9% 0.9% 1.4% 0.7% 9.6% 2.2%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.03.10 1,008 3.3% 9.7% 36.0% 14.5% 11.3% 2.6% 2.4% 1.0% 10.1% 2.4%
17.03.10 The Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye
Hankook Research[permanent dead link] 17.03.06–17.03.07 1,000 1.3% 8.4% 30.7% 13.7% 7.6% 1.2% 1.2% 0.6% 11.1% 1.8%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.02.27–17.03.03 2,025 1.7% 8.9% 36.4% 12.6% 10.8% 2.9% 2.8% 1.3% 14.9% 3.8%
Opinion polls in January–February 2017
Polling firm/Link Fieldwork date Sample
size
Sim Sang-jung Lee Jae-myung Moon Jae-in Ahn Hee-jung Ahn Cheol-soo Sohn Hak-kyu Yoo Seong-min Nam Kyung-pil Ban Ki-moon Hwang Kyo-ahn Hong Jun-pyo
Justice Democratic Democratic Democratic People People Bareun Bareun Independent Independent Liberty
R&Search Archived 12 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine 17.02.27–17.02.28 1,111 0.9% 9.8% 37.6% 15.5% 11.1% 1.1% 1.8% 1.2% 12.5% 1.4%
Hankook Research[permanent dead link] 17.02.24–17.02.25 1,000 1.1% 10.1% 30.9% 15.8% 7.8% 0.8% 1.6% 0.1% 10.3% 1.6%
Gallup Korea[permanent dead link] 17.02.21–17.02.23 1,006 8% 32% 21% 8% 2% 8%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.02.20–17.02.22 1,508 1.1% 10.1% 32.4% 19.2% 10.5% 1.7% 3.3% 1.8% 11.6% 3.3%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.02.13–17.02.15 1,515 2.5% 7.0% 32.7% 19.3% 8.6% 2.8% 3.9% 1.3% 16.5% 1.3%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.02.06–17.02.08 1,508 2.6% 8.2% 33.2% 15.7% 9.1% 3.1% 3.5% 1.6% 15.9% 1.4%
Hankook Research[permanent dead link] 17.02.05–17.02.06 2,016 0.7% 6.3% 29.8% 14.2% 6.3% 1.1% 3.2% 0.6% 11.2%
Gallup Korea[permanent dead link] 17.02.01–17.02.02 1,003 0.6% 7% 32% 10% 7% 0.5% 3% 8% 9%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.02.01 1,009 1.8% 9.9% 26.1% 11.1% 9.3% 2.7% 4.3% 2% 12.1% 1.4%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.01.23–17.01.24 1,004 1.0% 9.5% 32.8% 6.4% 7.9% 2.0% 2.4% 0.9% 15.4% 7.4%
Realmeter[permanent dead link] 17.01.16–17.01.18 1,507 1.9% 9% 28.1% 4% 7.4% 1.8% 2.2% 1.2% 21.8% 4% 0.7%
Hankook Research[permanent dead link] 17.01.15–17.01.16 1,000 9.5% 31.4% 3.9% 4.8% 1.3% 1.2% 0.3% 20%
Gallup Korea[permanent dead link] 17.01.10–17.01.12 1,007 12% 31% 6% 7% 2% 3% 20% 5%
R&Search[permanent dead link] 17.01.01–17.01.02 1,153 10% 32.2% 3.9% 5.9% 3.1% 2.1% 0.7% 21.3% 7.2%
Opinion polls in 2016
Date Polling firm Ban Ki-Moon
(Nonpartisan)
Moon Jae-in
(Minjoo)
Ahn Cheol-so
(People's)
Kim Moo-sung
(Saenuri)
Undecided/
Refused
Lead
14–15 Nov 2016 Realmeter 31.5% 32.7% 22.8% 13% 1.2
37.6% 46.2% 16.2% 8.6
37.2% 39.9% 22.9% 2.7
19–20 Sep 2016 Realmeter 38.5% 30.6% 18.0% 12.9% 7.9
46.7% 38.4% 14.9% 8.3
46.3% 32.5% 21.2% 13.8
13–14 Jun 2016 Realmeter 36.5% 34.9% 19.0% 9.6% 1.6
44.2% 44.9% 10.9% 0.7
40.9% 33.7% 25.4% 7.2
18–19 Apr 2016 Realmeter 42.3% 42.8% 14.9% 0.5
41.0% 32.3% 26.7% 8.7
14–15 Mar 2016 Realmeter 44.0% 45.0% 11.0% 1.0
37.2% 44.2% 18.6% 7.0
17–19 Feb 2016 Realmeter 44.3% 45.0% 10.7% 0.7
37.7% 43.8% 18.5% 6.1

Exit polls[edit]

KBS, MBC, and SBS Terrestrial Broadcasting Exit Survey

Candidate Estimated Percentage
Moon Jae-in 41.4%
Hong Jun-pyo 23.3%
Ahn Cheol-soo 21.8%
Yoo Seung-min 7.1%
Sim Sang-jung 5.9%

Results[edit]

Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea won the plurality of the votes (41.09% in contrast to 24.04% won by his closest opponent Hong Jun-pyo), thus winning this election. He assumed the office as the President of South Korea immediately upon the confirmation of the results at 8:09 am on 10 May 2017 (Local time) and was inaugurated in the National Assembly at afternoon on the same day.[36]

Moon's 17.1% margin of victory is the largest percentage margin for any liberal candidate since the beginning of free and fair direct elections in 1987.

CandidatePartyVotes%
Moon Jae-inDemocratic Party of Korea13,423,80041.09
Hong Joon-pyoLiberty Korea Party7,852,84924.04
Ahn Cheol-sooPeople Party6,998,34221.42
Yoo Seong-minBareun Party2,208,7716.76
Sim Sang-jungJustice Party2,017,4586.17
Cho Won-jinSaenuri Party42,9490.13
Kim Min-chanIndependent33,9900.10
Kim Sun-dongPeople's United Party27,2290.08
Chang Sŏng-minGrand National Unity Party21,7090.07
Yoon Hong-sikHongik Party18,5430.06
Lee Kyung-heeKorean Nationalist Party11,3550.03
Lee Jae-ohEvergreen Korea Party9,1400.03
Oh Young-gukEconomic Patriots Party6,0400.02
Total32,672,175100.00
Valid votes32,672,17599.59
Invalid/blank votes135,7330.41
Total votes32,807,908100.00
Registered voters/turnout42,479,71077.23
Source: National Election Commission

By region[edit]

Major candidates[edit]

Breakdown of votes by region for candidates with at least 1% of the total votes.

Region Moon Jae-in Hong Joon-pyo Ahn Cheol-soo Yoo Seong-min Sim Sang-jung
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Seoul 2,781,345 42.3 1,365,285 20.8 1,492,767 22.7 476,973 7.3 425,459 6.5
Busan 872,127 38.7 720,484 32.0 378,907 16.8 162,480 7.2 109,329 4.9
Daegu 342,620 21.8 714,205 45.4 235,757 15.0 198,459 12.6 74,440 4.7
Incheon 747,090 41.2 379,191 20.9 428,888 23.7 118,691 6.5 129,925 7.2
Gwangju 583,847 61.1 14,882 1.6 287,222 30.1 20,862 2.2 43,719 4.6
Daejeon 404,545 42.9 191,376 20.3 218,769 23.2 59,820 6.3 63,669 6.8
Ulsan 282,794 38.1 203,602 27.5 128,520 17.3 60,289 8.1 62,187 8.4
Sejong 77,767 51.1 23,211 15.2 32,010 21.0 9,192 6.0 9,353 6.1
Gyeonggi 3,319,812 42.1 1,637,345 20.8 1,807,308 22.9 540,023 6.8 546,373 6.9
Gangwon 324,768 34.2 284,909 30.0 206,840 21.8 65,278 6.9 62,389 6.6
North Chungcheong 374,806 38.6 255,502 26.3 211,454 21.8 57,282 5.9 65,095 6.7
South Chungcheong 476,661 38.6 306,614 24.8 290,216 23.5 68,521 5.6 83,868 6.8
North Jeolla 778,747 64.8 40,231 3.3 285,467 23.8 30,802 2.6 59,296 4.9
South Jeolla 737,921 59.9 30,221 2.5 378,179 30.7 25,819 2.1 49,509 4.0
North Gyeongsang 369,726 21.7 827,237 48.6 253,905 14.9 149,017 8.8 88,080 5.2
South Gyeongsang 779,731 36.7 790,491 37.2 284,272 13.4 142,479 6.7 113,051 5.3
Jeju 169,493 45.5 68,063 18.3 77,861 20.9 22,784 6.1 31,716 8.5
Total 13,423,800 41.1 7,852,849 24.0 6,998,342 21.4 2,208,771 6.8 2,017,458 6.2
Source: National Election Commission

Minor candidates[edit]

Breakdown of votes by region for candidates with less than 1% of the total votes.

Region Cho
Won-jin
Kim
Min-chan
Kim
Sun-dong
Jang
Sung-min
Yoon
Hong-sik
Lee
Kyung-hee
Lee
Jae-oh
Ok
Young-guk
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Seoul 9,987 0.2 3,950 0.1 3,416 0.1 3,554 0.1 2,177 0.0 1,277 0.0 1,938 0.0 789 0.0
Busan 2,651 0.1 2,156 0.1 981 0.0 1,316 0.1 1,041 0.0 496 0.0 465 0.0 276 0.0
Daegu 4,057 0.3 1,501 0.1 804 0.1 563 0.0 986 0.1 401 0.0 324 0.0 259 0.0
Incheon 2,646 0.1 1,681 0.1 1,230 0.1 1,618 0.1 625 0.0 594 0.0 410 0.0 374 0.0
Gwangju 152 0.0 614 0.1 2,265 0.2 655 0.1 264 0.0 136 0.0 103 0.0 111 0.0
Daejeon 1,069 0.1 758 0.1 611 0.1 620 0.1 406 0.0 256 0.0 234 0.0 168 0.0
Ulsan 829 0.1 926 0.1 641 0.1 575 0.1 441 0.1 220 0.0 240 0.0 128 0.0
Sejong 153 0.1 135 0.1 126 0.1 88 0.0 76 0.0 50 0.0 42 0.0 34 0.0
Gyeonggi 10,778 0.1 6,553 0.1 6,139 0.1 5,058 0.1 2,883 0.0 2,213 0.0 1,858 0.0 1,302 0.0
Gangwon 1,426 0.1 1,350 0.1 876 0.1 787 0.1 870 0.1 570 0.1 321 0.0 252 0.0
North Chungcheong 1,153 0.1 1,347 0.1 840 0.1 722 0.1 943 0.1 686 0.1 421 0.0 308 0.0
South Chungcheong 1,415 0.1 1,662 0.1 1,260 0.1 1,148 0.1 1,025 0.1 803 0.1 429 0.0 324 0.0
North Jeolla 451 0.0 2,070 0.1 1,186 0.1 1,080 0.1 589 0.0 499 0.0 345 0.0 240 0.0
South Jeolla 454 0.0 2,955 0.2 3,817 0.3 1,319 0.1 782 0.1 839 0.1 315 0.0 272 0.0
North Gyeongsang 3,053 0.2 2,499 0.1 1,308 0.1 1,054 0.1 2,942 0.2 1,068 0.1 861 0.1 476 0.0
South Gyeongsang 2,290 0.1 3,267 0.2 1,394 0.1 1,240 0.1 2,234 0.1 1,011 0.0 721 0.0 458 0.0
Jeju 385 0.1 556 0.1 335 0.1 312 0.1 289 0.1 236 0.1 113 0.0 269 0.1
Total 42,949 0.1 33,990 0.1 27,229 0.1 21,709 0.1 18,543 0.1 11,355 0.0 9,140 0.0 6,040 0.0
Source: National Election Commission

Maps[edit]

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