Liberal Party candidate Lee Jae-myung is expected to win South Korea's snap presidential election, according to a joint exit poll conducted on Tuesday.
The poll was conducted two months after his rival, then-conservative President Yoon Seok-yeol, was ousted from power under a brief declaration of martial law.
Mr Lee is expected to win 51.7% of the vote, beating conservative rival Kim Moon-soo, who will get 39.3%, according to an exit poll conducted by South Korea's three biggest broadcasters – KBS, MBC and SBS.
Pre-election polls also suggest Mr Lee is likely to win easily, given the deep public disillusionment with conservatives following the failure of Mr Yong's martial law.
Mr Kim has had to work hard to win over moderate and swing voters, while his People Power Party remains internally divided over its assessment of Mr Yoon's performance.
The election marked another important step in cementing democracy in the country, but observers fear that internal divisions that deepened after Mr. Yoon imposed martial law are far from resolved and could pose a serious political burden for the new president.
Over the past six months, huge crowds have taken to the streets to either condemn or support Mr. Yun, while the leadership vacuum left by Mr. Yun's impeachment and subsequent ouster has undermined high-level diplomatic efforts and the country's financial markets.
The new president, who wins Wednesday's election, will be sworn in immediately for a full five-year term, skipping the usual two-month transition period.
The new head of state will face serious challenges, including a slowing economy, US President Donald Trump's “America First” policies and growing nuclear threats from North Korea.
Voting began at 6am local time at 14,295 polling stations across the country and closed at 8pm. Observers expect results to be released as early as midnight.
More than 19 million citizens had cast their ballots as of 8:20 p.m., according to the National Election Commission. Combined with the 15 million who cast their ballots during two days of early voting last week, the turnout was 78.4%. There are 44.4 million eligible voters in South Korea.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Mr.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
