Seoul – Exit polls in the South Korean presidential election indicate a clear win for former human rights lawyer Moon Jae In Tuesday, with 41.4 per cent of the votes cast, putting him just over 18 points ahead of the nearest rival.
The exit polls, conducted by broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS and cited by The Korea Herald newspaper and Yonhap news agency, place liberal Moon well ahead of conservative former prosecutor Hong Jun Pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party on 23.3 per cent.
Ahn Cheol Soo, a 55-year-old former software developer who formed Korea’s now third-largest political party, the People’s Party, received 21.8 per cent in the exit poll.
Yoo Seong Min of the minor conservative Bareun Party garnered 7.1 per cent, while Sim Sang Jeung of the left-wing Justice Party gained 5.9 per cent of the votes.
Exit polls: liberal Moon set to win South Korean presidency- Moon Jae In, presidential candidate of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, speaks during a campaign rally on May 9, 2017. Exit polls in the South Korean presidential election indicate a clear win for former human rights lawyer Moon Tuesday, with 41.4 per cent of the votes cast, putting him just over 18 points ahead of the nearest rival. (Credit Image: © Min Won-Ki via ZUMA Wire) Photo: Min Won-Ki via ZUMA Wire
South Korean voters were electing a successor to impeached former president Park Geun Hye, who was forced to leave office in March amid a corruption scandal.
Voter turnout was high – at 75 per cent according to Yonhap, which cited the National Election Commission (NEC) – an hour before polls closed at 8 pm (1100 GMT). More than 11 million of the country’s 42.5 million registered voters had already taken part in early voting last week, Chosun Ilbo newspaper had reported earlier.
Surveys taken prior to election day showed Moon – who lost to Park in the 2012 election – with the best chance of becoming South Korea’s president for the next five years.
Moon voted at a school in Seoul, together with his wife, on Tuesday morning.
The Asian country, famed for its technological exports, faces growing youth unemployment, high rates of household debt and fear of poverty among the elderly.
The winner of Tuesday’s vote will also be expected to deal with escalating tensions with neighbouring North Korea, after US President Donald Trump threatened to take unilateral action against the country for recent ballistic missile and nuclear tests.
Moon, 64, advocates closer ties with North Korea’s communist government, but has also stressed the importance of the US alliance.
Yonhap and the Korea Herald said preliminary results are expected by midnight.
The president-elect is due to be inaugurated on Wednesday, immediately after an official declaration of his or her victory by the NEC in a meeting planned for the morning.
-dpa
