UPDATE - Opposition candidate Yoon wins South Korea's presidency

UPDATE - Opposition candidate Yoon wins South Korea's presidency

Ruling party candidate concedes defeat, congratulates opponent

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By Islamuddin Sajid

ANKARA (AA) - South Korea's main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol was elected president Thursday after running neck and neck with his rival Lee Jae-myung from the ruling party, local media reported.

According to the unofficial results, Yoon, the candidate of the People Power Party, received 48.59% of the vote while Lee of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea garnered 47.79% with 98% of the votes counted, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Lee, who conceded defeat, congratulated his opponent.

"I did my best but failed to live up to your expectations," he said. "All responsibility lies with me. I extend my congratulations to candidate Yoon Suk-yeol," Yonhap quoted Lee as saying in his statement read at the party’s headquarters.

Yoon, 61, a law graduate, served as a prosecutor and investigated high-profile cases including former President Park Geun-hye’s corruption scandal that led to her impeachment and imprisonment.

Later in current President Moon Jae-in's government, he was promoted to the position of prosecutor general. However, he left the position in March last year and announced that he would contest the election and secured the nomination of the People Power Party for the presidency.

Yoon is likely to form a coalition government with Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People’s Party, who last week announced that he was withdrawing from the presidential race and declared his support for Yoon.

The new president will face some immediate challenges, however, including tense relations with North Korea, the worst COVID-19 situation in the country, and how to smoothly advance his agenda amid his unfriendly relations with current president Moon, according to the agency report.

Moon’s term will end in May, but his Democratic Party of Korea enjoys a majority in parliament and holds 180 seats in the 300-member National Assembly.


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