Lee Jae-myung wins presidential election with record turnout

The left-leaning candidate won more than 50 per cent of the vote in the wake of Yoon Suk-yeol’s removal. Exit polls reflect generational and gender divisions, but also a renewed civic commitment by South Koreans. The Democratic Party of Korea calls for national unity to turn the page after the declaration of martial law.

Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – As surveys pointed out, the candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Lee Jae-myung has won South Korea’s presidential election with more than 50 per cent of the vote, following a record turnout.

The election was held after President Yoon Suk-yeol was impeached and removed from office for declaring martial law. The latter sparked a major political crisis that is ending with the election of the opposition candidate.

Nevertheless, the still partial results confirm growing cleavages in South Korean society. In fact, in the evening, as major South Korean media reported exit polls, a small anti-Lee rally was held in Seoul, mostly by elderly citizens.

Lee Jae-myung enjoyed a significant lead among women, with more than 55 per cent of the vote, while his main rival, Kim Moon-soo, of the conservative-leaning People Power Party (PPP), received only 39 per cent of the women’s vote. Among men, 48.3 per cent voted for Lee and 39.4 per cent for Kim.

Support for Lee Jae-myung was particularly strong among voters aged between 40 and 50, while voters over 70 showed a clear preference for Kim.

Lee Jun-seok, the third man in the running, conceded defeat before the end of the vote count.

According to some observers, these results show the PPP’s poor ability to reunite after Yoon’s ouster. According to Lee Jun-han, a political scientist at Incheon University speaking to Reuters Kim Moon-soo, who had opposed Yoon’s impeachment, was not ready, and neither was his party.

The PPP failed to adequately criticise the former president's actions to attract some of the conservative voters disillusioned by the PPP, while the DPK, which now controls both the government and the National Assembly, could risk undermining social unity in the absence of counterweights.

A leading DPK member said that voters delivered a clear message to Yoon's “insurrectionist government.”

“I believe the public support for Lee reflects their strong desire to recover from the collapse of livelihoods and the runaway economy that have worsened over the past three years under the Yoon government," said Park Chan-dae, acting leader of the left-leaning party in a televised interview, before calling for national unity to overcome the fallout from the martial law debacle.

In the first quarter of this year, data show that South Korea’s economy contracted with weak domestic demand and exports.

For Park, the time has come to overcome divisions and unite the country. At the same time, he has not ruled out reforming the system to prevent the president from invoking emergency legislation again.

The results also confirm the strong civic commitment by South Koreans in reaction to the proclamation of martial law. At 79.4 per cent, the turnout was the highest in 28 years, noted South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

Some 35.24 million out of 44.39 million eligible voters cast their ballot by 8:00 pm, the National Election Commission reported. This includes ballots cast in early voting (34.8 per cent) and those from abroad.

• south korea
• presidential election
• divisions
• national unity
• martial law