Liberal oppn candidate Lee Jae-myung elected South Korea’s new President

Seoul: South Korea’s liberal opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung was elected president early Wednesday, a victory that would cap months of political turmoil triggered by the stunning but brief imposition of martial law by now-ousted conservative leader Yoon Suk Yeol.

It was unclear whether Lee’s election would cause any major, immediate shift in South Korea’s foreign policy. Lee, previously accused by critics of tilting toward China and North Korea and away from the US and Japan, has repeatedly stressed South Korea’s alliance with the US as the foundation of its foreign policy.

The toughest external challenges awaiting a new president are US President Donald Trump’s tariff policy and North Korea’s advancing nuclear programme. But experts say whoever becomes president can’t do much to secure major progress in South Korea’s favour on those issues. With nearly 95 per cent of ballots counted as of 2:40 am Wednesday, Lee, the Democratic Party candidate, led with 48.86 per cent of votes. The main conservative candidate, Kim Moon Soo, had 41.98 per cent. The exit poll by South Korea’s three major television stations — KBS, MBC and SBS — earlier showed Lee projected to obtain 51.7 per cent of total votes cast, beating Kim with 39.3 per cent. Pre-election surveys suggested Lee appeared headed for an easy win, riding on deep public frustration over the conservatives in wake of Yoon’s martial law debacle.