Lee Jae-myung Set to Be South Korea's New President

Leading the vote count, leader of Democratic Party vows to revive economy and restore livelihoods

- Wendy Teo

SEOUL - Mr Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, looks set to become South Korea's next president, six months after a botched martial law declaration by then President Yoon Suk Yeol.

When voting closed at 8pm (7pm Singapore time) on June 3, a joint exit poll from South Korea's three main broadcasters — MBC, KBS and SBS — showed Mr Lee leading at 51.7 per cent, with the ruling People Power Party's (PPP) Mr Kim Moon-soo at 39.3 per cent and minor conservative party candidate Lee Jun-seok coming in at 7.7 per cent.

At 12.30am Singapore time, with 83 per cent of the votes counted, Mr Lee was leading with 48.3 per cent while Mr Kim came in at 42.9 per cent.

At around the same time, Mr Kim conceded defeat at a press conference while Mr Lee went onstage at the National Assembly and told supporters that he was "highly likely to become the president".

"I will do my best to revive the economy and restore people's livelihoods," he said.

Mr Lee, 61, was expected to win as he had been leading opinion polls even before the election date was announced, and went on to maintain a double-digit lead over his rivals throughout the 22-day campaign.

The snap election was widely seen as a referendum on the short-lived Dec 3, 2024, fiasco and the ensuing chaos. Yoon was subsequently stripped of his powers by the country's Constitutional Court.

A total of 35.2 million people voted, representing 79.4 per cent of 44.39 million eligible voters, the highest since the 1997 presidential election, which had an 80.7 per cent turnout.

Kyung Hee University political scientist Ahn Byong-jin said Mr Lee's win was "predictable", adding that his vote share of slightly above 50 per cent shows that South Koreans are actually still divided about him.

"For him not to hit 60 per cent of the vote share, it shows that there is still a trust gap," said Professor Ahn.