The Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-myung has won South Korea’s snap presidential election – six months after the country was briefly thrown into martial law.
At a press conference before the official result was declared, Mr Lee said he would seek to unite the country.
“Let us move forward with hope and make a fresh start from this moment on,” he said.
“Though we may have clashed for some time, even those who did not support us are still our fellow citizens of the Republic of Korea.”
Pics: Reuters
Kim Moon Soo, candidate of the conservative People Power Party (PPP), also said that he “humbly accepts [the] people’s choice” and congratulated Mr Lee.
With around 95% of ballots counted as of 2.40am on Wednesday (6.40pm in the UK), Mr Lee led with 48.86% of votes to Mr Kim’s 41.98%.
Earlier, an exit poll from three of South Korea’s broadcasters put the Democratic Party leader on 51.7% and Mr Kim on 39.3%
It caps off a tumultuous six months for South Korea, with the country plunged into crisis after former president Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law on 3 December.
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From December: South Korean president to lift martial law
Troops had entered the National Assembly building as police and protesters clashed outside after he made the announcement, only for him to reverse the move six hours later.
Mr Yoon was impeached later that month, and his dismissal was upheld in April after South Korea’s constitutional court ruled the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops,” triggering the snap election.
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From December: South Korea martial law – what happened?
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.
Mr Lee, a former human rights lawyer, will then be sworn in as president immediately for a single full term of five years without the usual two-month transition period.
He had previously called the snap election “judgment day” against the martial law decision, and accused the PPP of condoning the attempt by not fighting harder to oust Mr Yoon.
Park Chan-dae, acting leader of the Democratic Party, told South Korea broadcaster KBS that “I think people made a fiery judgment against the insurrection regime”.
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