South Korea’s center-left Lee Jae-myung was declared president Wednesday after winning a snap election, taking the helm of a nation deeply divided after his predecessor’s disastrous attempt to declare martial law.
Lee won a thumping victory over conservative Kim Moon-soo, of disgraced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol’s former party, with his term beginning immediately after the National Election Commission certified the vote tally early Wednesday.
In a regular presidential election, South Korea allows for a months-long transition period — but as Lee’s victory came in a snap election after Yoon’s impeachment, his term began right away.
“The National Election Commission hereby declares Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party as the elected president,” National Election Commission chairperson Roh Tae-ak said early Wednesday.
Kim had conceded hours earlier, as final votes were still being counted. Official results showed he had no chance of winning.
Lee assumes office with a bulging in-tray, from sluggish growth and a global trade war to mounting concerns over military ties between nuclear-armed Pyongyang and Moscow.
He also faces the challenge of leading a nation still reeling from the turmoil sparked by Yoon’s martial law declaration in December and the rise of the far right in its aftermath — a development experts say has deeply shaken the country’s collective sense of democracy.
In a speech to supporters early Wednesday, Lee urged South Koreans to move “forward with hope and make a fresh start from this moment on.”
“Though we may have clashed for a while, even those who did not support us are still fellow citizens of the Republic of Korea,” he said.
He also promised to “pursue dialogue, communication, and cooperation” with North Korea, with whom the South remains technically at war, “to find a path toward peaceful coexistence and shared prosperity.”
Lee is expected to start his first day with a traditional phone briefing from the military’s top commander, formally confirming the transfer of operational control of the country.
He is then likely to visit the National Cemetery, a longstanding tradition observed by his predecessors, including Yoon.
A modest inauguration ceremony will likely follow at the National Assembly — the same site where Yoon deployed armed troops on the night he attempted to declare martial law.
