Conservative Leader Yoon Suk-yeol Elected President of South Korea

Yoon Suk-yeol will be replacing President Moon Jae-in, a progressive leader whose five-year term will end in May.

South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol.

(Photo: PTI)

South Korean Conservative leader Yoon Suk-yeol was elected the country's new president in an extremely tight race on Thursday, 10 March, BBC reported.

He will be replacing President Moon Jae-in, whose five-year term is due to end in May this year.

With 98 percent of the votes counted, the People Power Party candidate Suk-yeol was leading by a margin of 2,63,000 votes over his closest rival, the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung.

The election was one of the closest in the country's history, with the final count being separated by less than 1 percent.

The victory of 60-year-year-old Suk-yeol, who is a political newcomer, brings Conservatives back to power in South Korea after a period of five years.

His victory gains additional prominence since the main conservative bloc in the country was in disarray after the impeachment of its leader and former President Park Geun-hye​.

Victory of Great South Korean People, Says Suk-yeol

The new president-elect had previously served as the Prosecutor General of South Korea under President Moon Jae-in from 2019 to 2021.

Both presidential candidates were considered extremely unpopular throughout their campaigns. Voters were so disenchanted that local media outlets had even dubbed the poll "election of the unfavourables," BBC reported.

However, a large voter turnout of 77 percent was recorded during the election.

Calling his win a "victory of the great South Korean people," Suk-yeol told supporters that he would "pay attention to people's livelihoods, provide warm welfare services to the needy, and make utmost efforts so that our country serves as a proud, responsible member of the international community and the free world," BBC reported.

In terms of foreign policy, Suk-yeol said he would take a tougher stance regarding his country's relations with North Korea and China, and would attempt to forge greater ties with the United States (US).

PM Modi Congratulates Suk-yeol

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate the South Korean president-elect, saying that he looks forward to working with the latter to "expand and strengthen the India-ROK Special Strategic Partnership."

(With inputs from BBC.)