South Korean liberals take office in elections six months after martial arts crisis
South Korea's Liberal Party candidate Lee Jae-Myung is expected to win the country's interim presidential election, according to the country's broadcaster's forecast on Tuesday.
Reuters has not independently confirmed the results of the joint exit polls of broadcasters KBS, MBC and SB, which has named Democratic Lee at 51.7% and his rival, Kim Moon-Soo at 39.3%.
Export polls were primarily consistent with the final results in previous elections. Another poll by broadcaster JTBC put Lee at 50.6% and King at 39.4%. Channel A also predicted Li Ying with similar margins.
Voting began at 6 a.m. local time at 14,295 polling stations nationwide and closed at 8 p.m.
The winner must meet challenges, including a deeply scarred society since the attempt to conduct military domination, and a heavily exported economy arising from the unpredictable protectionist actions of the United States, a major trading partner and security partner and security ally.
According to the National Election Commission, about 78% of South Korea's 4.439 million qualified voters voted, including car dealers, gyms and fields for traditional Korean wrestling (called Ssireum) became a polling station to choose the leader of Asia's fourth largest economy.
The democratic incident happened six months after the shock abstaining from triggering triggers imposed by former leader Yoon Suk Yeol.
Voters want stability
After being impeached by parliament in December, Yoon was removed from office by the Constitutional Court on April 4, with less than three years in less than five years, triggering the rapid election, which is currently aimed at reshaping South Korea's political leadership and foreign policy.
“I hope the problem of martial law is solved more clearly and transparently,” said Kim Yang, a 40-year-old Seoul resident. “There are still many things that don't make sense and I want to see them resolved correctly.”
Lee once targeted the election “Judgement Day” against the former Yuan government and the conservative BJP, accusing them of forgiving martial law attempts because they did not try harder to thwart the presidency and even tried to save Yoon Won's presidency.
Kim was the Minister of Labor when the current president declared martial law on December 3.
“There are only six golden hours left to save the South Korean crisis,” Lee said in an urging people to vote in a Facebook post.
Both Lee and Kim promised change for the country, saying the political institutions and economic models established during the rise of upcoming democratic and industrial forces are no longer suitable for purpose.
Their proposals for innovation and technology investment often overlap, but Lee advocates more equity and helping low- and middle-income families, and Kim has campaigned to push businesses to free themselves from regulations and labor conflicts.
However, Yoon's brief attempts imposed martial law, which loomed in the polls.
Kim named Lee the “Dictorian” and his Democrats were “monsters”, warning that if a former human rights lawyer becomes president, there is nothing to stop them from working together to modify the law simply because they don’t like them.
“People's Party and I will do our best to save people's livelihoods and economies,” Kim said in a Facebook post.
Lee and Kim voted during the voting last week.
Regular voters in Seoul urge the next leader to ease the disharmony, restore stability and respond to the impact of the crisis that touches his family.
“The economy has been worse since December 3, not only for me, but I heard it,” said Kim Kwang-Ma, 81. “As a people, we have become polarized … I hope we can unite so that South Korea can grow again.”
The National Election Commission plans to prove the results on Wednesday, and the winner's inauguration is expected to be within a few hours.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in the past 24 hours only because his decision was unanimously rejected by parliament. Andrew Chang explains the turmoil that led to the presidential declaration and its claims about South Korean politics. Images provided by Reuters and Getty Images.
