Landslide win for Moon in S Korea election: exit poll
“pro-Pyongyang leftist” was far behind on 23.3 percent, with centrist Ahn Cheol-soo third on 21.8.
Moon told staff at his party headquarters that his triumph was born of “the desperate longings of the people who wanted a regime change”, before giving them a double thumbs up.
National elections are public holidays in South Korea and preliminary figures showed a turnout of 77.2 percent – the highest for 20 years in a presidential poll.
The campaign focused largely on the economy, with North Korea less prominent. But after a decade of conservative rule, Moon’s victory could mean a sea change in Seoul’s approach towards both Pyongyang and key ally Washington.
The 64-year-old – accused by his critics of being soft on the North – advocates dialogue to ease tensions and to bring it to negotiations. He is seen as favouring more independence in relations with the US, Seoul’s security guarantor with 28,500 troops in the country.
Their presence, he told reporters during the campaign, was “important not only to our own security but also to the global strategy of the US”.
The North has carried out two nuclear tests and a series of missile launches since the start of last year in its quest to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland. Washington has said military action is an option, sending fears of conflict spiralling.
More recently US President Donald Trump has softened his message, saying he would be “honoured” to meet the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un.
Moon also says he would be willing to visit Pyongyang to meet Kim and advocates resumption of some of the inter-Korean projects shuttered by his predecessors, including the Kaesong joint industrial zone.
For many South Korean voters, cor- ruption, slowing growth, unemployment and even air pollution from China top the list of concerns. South Korea’s rapid growth from the 1970s to 1990s pulled a war-ravaged nation out of poverty but slowed as the economy matured, and unemployment among under-30s is now at a record 10 percent.
Frustration over widening inequality in wealth and opportunities fuelled anger over Park’s scandal, which exposed the cosy and corrupt ties between regulators and powerful family oriented conglomerates, known as chaebol, that have endured for decades.
Park is in custody awaiting trial over corruption for offering governmental favours to top businessmen – including Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong – who allegedly bribed her secret confidante, Choi Soon-sil.
Moon, Ahn and other candidates promised to reform the chaebol, which dominate the economy and have been criticised for operating with little scrutiny.