Iran Press/ Asia: Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative former top prosecutor, has been elected South Korea’s new president, defeating his chief liberal rival in one of the country’s most closely fought presidential elections.
Yoon, from the main opposition People Power Party, edged out the ruling Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-Myung with 48.6% of the vote to 47.8%, with more than 98% of the ballots counted as of 4.20 am on Thursday.
Yoon is to take office in May and serve a single five-year term as leader of South Korea.
The election boiled down to a two-way showdown between Yoon from the opposition People Power Party and Lee from the governing Democratic Party. They spent months slamming, mocking and demonizing each other in one of the most bitter political campaigns in recent times of South Korea, aggravating the country’s already severe domestic divisions. 219
