Lee Jae-myung in line for South Korean Presidency
發佈日期: 2025-06-03 23:56
TVB News
In South Korea, opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung is projected to win the country's snap presidential election. He appears to have comfortably beaten main rival Kim Moon-soo who was a past supporter of Yoon Suk-yeol.
Yoon's imposition of martial law last year saw him impeached prompting the election which seems to have left his party in turmoil.
Voting closed at 8pm in South Korea. Then the media made an initial call. Celebrations in Seoul at the opposition Democratic Party headquarters.
Joint exit polls from the three main television networks KBS, MBC and SBS showed Lee Jae-myung with an outright majority.
Enjoying a projected 51.7 percent of the vote, the 61-year-old has presented himself as a man who can draw a line under six months of political turmoil following the shock declaration of martial law by former President Yoon Suk-yeol. Lee's inauguration could take place on Wednesday.
Silence and a resignation to defeat on the faces of those who have supported Yoon's People's Power party, Conservative candidate, Kim Moon-soo, was trying to sell a new vision and distance himself from Yoon's martial law decree although at the time he supported it.
Kim it seems failed to convince the Korean public that they could move on with him as leader. Projections put Kim at less than 40 percent of the vote.
Counting continues, so no official results are available. There were five candidates on the day but all indications point to a Lee victory.
The exit polls seem conclusive with women strongly supporting Lee,a left wing politician who has moved toward the centre in recent years.
Initial data shows the highest turnout since 199 with nearly 80 percent going out to vote, the majority for Lee.
Foster Klug from Associated Press says: "Lee is facing several corruption charges. South Korea is deeply divided politically and socially, and this hard-fought election has some analysts worried that the divide between liberals and conservatives will only get worse."
Lee has faced accusations of abuse of power and making false statements. Ultimately, though, it seems the electorate sided with Lee following Former President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment in April.
A court ruled Yoon could no longer stay in the job after declaring martial law in late 2024. This triggered the snap election.
Yoon's legacy now further tarnished as his party appears to have been soundly beaten in this election which would almost certainly not have happened but for his disastrous decision last December. Yoon is also facing insurrection charges, which he denies.
