Lee Jae-myung elected as S Korean president, exit polls say

The Guardian:

Exit polls in South Korea have projected that Lee Jae-myung will become the country’s new president after a snap election triggered by a brief period of martial law imposed by the now-impeached former leader Yoon Suk Yeol.

After polls closed in what Lee described as “judgment day” for Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, the broadcaster MBN put Lee, the Democratic party candidate, on 49.2% of the vote, comfortably ahead of his closest rival, the conservative Kim Moon-soo, on 41.7%. A joint exit poll by three other broadcasters showed Lee with 51.7% and Kim with 39.3%.

Lee, a 61-year-old former human rights lawyer who had made two failed attempts to reach the presidential Blue House, rode a wave of public anger that followed Yoon’s declaration of martial law in early December.

The order, which was overturned in a matter of hours, sparked South Korea’s biggest political crisis in decades. The country is also battling an economic downturn, income inequality and doubts over the US’s commitment to its security under Donald Trump.