North Korea has acknowledged the results of the South Korean election, saying tersely, "The Saenuri Party candidate was elected after a close race in the South's presidential election on Dec. 19, according to domestic and foreign news reports."

Though the official response was extremely brief, it was released notably quicker than the North’s response to the outcome of the past three South Korean elections. Following the December 2007 election, the North did not acknowledge the official results until April 2008, when they ran an editorial attacking Lee Myung Bak for his “sycophancy towards the United States and anti-DPRK confrontation hysteria.”