Liberal Lee Jae-myung wins South Korea presidency in martial law 'judgement day'

By Joyce Lee and Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's liberal party candidate, Lee Jae-myung, was elected president in Tuesday's snap election, six months to the day after he evaded military cordons to vote against a shock martial law decree imposed by his ousted predecessor.

Lee's victory stands to usher in a political sea change in Asia's fourth-largest economy, after the backlash against the martial law brought down Yoon Suk Yeol, the conservative outsider who narrowly beat Lee in the 2022 election.

Nearly 80% of South Korea's 44.39 million eligible voters cast their ballots, the highest turnout for a presidential election in the country since 1997, with Lee terming the polls "judgment day" against Yoon's martial law and the People Power Party's failure to distance itself from that decision.

With more than 99% of the votes counted, the Democratic Party's Lee stood at 49.3% to PPP candidate Kim Moon-soo's 41.3%, according to National Election Commission data.

A subdued Kim conceded the race and congratulated Lee in brief remarks to reporters.

Lee had long been favoured to win, and his supporters erupted in cheers as exit polls by the country's major broadcasters showed him defeating Kim by wide margins.

In a brief speech to supporters gathered outside parliament after the polls closed, Lee said he would fulfil the duties of the office and bring unity to the country.

"We can overcome this temporary difficulty with the combined strength of our people, who have great capabilities," he said.

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

The martial law decree and the six months of ensuing turmoil, which saw three different acting presidents and multiple criminal insurrection trials for Yoon and several top officials, marked a stunning political self-destruction for the former leader and effectively handed the presidency to his main rival.

Yoon was impeached by the Lee-led parliament, then removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April, less than three years into his five-year term, triggering the snap election that now stands to remake the country's political leadership and foreign policies of a key U.S. ally.

Lee has accused the PPP of having condoned the martial law attempt by not fighting harder to thwart it and even trying to save Yoon's presidency.

Kim was Yoon's labour minister when the former president declared martial law on December 3.

"I was here on December 3 after martial was declared and December 14 when Yoon was impeached," said Choi Mi-jeong, 55, a science teacher who gathered outside parliament to hear Lee speak. "Now Lee Jae-myung is becoming president. I hope he will become a leader who supports ordinary people, not vested interests, not a small number of riches."

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a briefing that Washington was awaiting final certification before commenting.

Official results were expected to be certified by the National Election Commission on Wednesday morning after ballots are sorted and counted by machine, then triple-checked by election officials by hand to verify accuracy.

Just hours later, the inauguration ceremony is planned.

NEED FOR CHANGE

Park Chan-dae, acting leader of Lee's Democratic Party, told KBS that the projections suggest voters rejected the martial law attempt and are hoping for an improvement in their livelihoods.

"I think people made a fiery judgment against the insurrection regime," he said.

The winner must tackle challenges including a society deeply scarred by divisions made more obvious since the attempt at military rule, and an export-heavy economy reeling from unpredictable protectionist moves by the United States, a major trading partner and a security ally.

Both Lee and Kim pledged change for the country, saying a political system and economic model set up during its rise as a budding democracy and industrial power are no longer fit for purpose.

Their proposals for investment in innovation and technology often overlapped, but Lee advocated more equity and help for mid- to low-income families while Kim campaigned on giving businesses more freedom from regulations and labour strife.

Lee is expected to be more conciliatory toward China and North Korea, but has pledged to continue the Yoon-era engagement with Japan.

Kim branded Lee a "dictator" and his Democratic Party a "monster," warning if the former human rights lawyer becomes president, nothing will stop them from working together to amend laws simply because they do not like them.

'POLARISED'

"The economy has gotten so much worse since December 3, not just for me but I hear that from everybody," Kim Kwang-ma, 81, said. "And we as a people have become so polarised... I wish we could come together so that Korea can develop again."

There were no female candidates running in Tuesday's election for the first time in 18 years.

Despite polls showing wide gaps between young men and women, gender equality was not among the key policy issues put forward during this election, a stark contrast from the 2022 vote.

"One thing I am a bit frustrated about with mainstream candidates whether Lee Jae-myung or other conservative candidates is they lack policy on women or minority groups," said Kwon Seo-hyun, 18, a university freshman and first-time voter who went out to the streets for anti-Yoon protests following his martial law.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee, Ju-min Park, Daewoung Kim, Yeobin Park, Hyunsu Yim, and Ju-min Park; Additional reporting David Brunnstrom in Washington; Writing by Jack Kim, Ed Davies and Josh Smith; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Sandra Maler)