Lee Jae-myung Wins The South Korean Presidential Election

JAKARTA - Presidential candidate from the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Lee Jae-myung was elected President of South Korea after winning the presidential election on Tuesday.

Lee got 49.42 percent of the vote, beating conservative Kim Moon-soo of the People's Power Party with 41.15 percent and Lee Jun-seok from the small conservative Reform Party with 8.34 percent, quoted from The Korea Times June 4.

Nearly 80 percent of the 44.39 million eligible voters in South Korea voted, the highest voter for presidential elections in the country since 1997, with more than 99 percent of incoming votes being counted, according to the National General Elections Commission (NEC).

In a short speech to supporters gathered outside the parliament building after the vote closed, Lee said he would fulfill his duties and bring unity to the country.

"We can overcome these temporary difficulties with the combined strength of our people, who have great abilities," he said.

He also promised to restore the economy and seek peace with nuclear-armed North Korea through dialogue and strength.

Lee's victory will lead to major changes in politics in Asia's fourth-largest economy, after a strong reaction to martial law brought down Yoon Suk-yeol who defeated Lee in the 2022 general election.

The calm Kim admitted his defeat and congratulated Lee in his brief remarks to reporters.

Official results are expected to be passed by the General Elections Commission on Wednesday morning local time after the ballots are sorted and counted by engine, then checked three times by election officials manually to verify its accuracy.

A few hours later, the inauguration ceremony for the elected president will be held.