Rep. Hong Joon-pyo of the Saenuri Party was pushed out of his seat for the Dongdaemun-B constituency on Wednesday, breaking the 24-year hold that the conservatives have had on the area.

Soon after the exit polls came out Hong accepted his defeat through his Twitter account and implied that he will be retiring from the political arena.

“(I) end 30 years of life as a public official. Now, as a free person, I have gained freedom from taunts and from policies,” Hong said in the Tweet. Hong began his career in the public sector as a public prosecutor and has been a conservative lawmaker since 1996.
 

The constituency has been held by the conservatives since 1988, and Hong had secured his seat in the National Assembly three consecutive times since the 16th by-elections running in the constituency.

The four-term lawmaker was a major Saenuri figure, having served as the party’s chairman and its floor leader.

Hong was beaten by former journalist Min Byung-doo of the Democratic United Party. Prior to this year, Min had served in the National Assembly for one term during the 17th National Assembly.

Although pre-election day surveys had placed the Dongdaemun-B constituency as one of the most hotly contested areas in Seoul, exit polls showed that Hong was left far behind, putting the estimated proportion of votes for Hong at 42.6 percent. Min’s total was estimated at 55.6 percent.

While Hong’s defeat in the constituency comes as a major upset, Wednesday’s developments were in line with the general trend of the DUP taking the upper hand over the conservatives in the capital.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)