Key points
- Lee wins 49.4pc of votes in heavy turnout
- Vows to fight inequality and corruption
- Election called after Yoon ousted over martial law
ISLAMABAD: South Korea’s new President Lee Jae-myung vowed on Wednesday to raise the country from what he described as the near destruction caused by a martial law attempt and revive a struggling economy confronting global protectionism.
According to Reuters, Lee’s win in Tuesday’s snap election stands to usher in a sea change in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, following backlash against a failed attempt at military rule brought down Yoon Suk Yeol just three years into his troubled presidency.
Childhood poverty
AP reported that Lee, who rose from childhood poverty to become South Korea’s leading politician vowing to fight inequality and corruption.
Lee has said he would address urgent economic challenges facing the country on the first day in office with a focus on the cost-of-living concerns affecting middle and low-income families and the struggles of small business owners, Reuters reported.
“A Lee Jae-myung government will be a pragmatic pro-market government,” he said after taking the oath of office at parliament, a location where just six months ago he jumped over the perimeter wall to enter the chamber and avoid martial law troops barricading it to vote down the decree, Reuters reported.
He promised deregulation to spur innovation and growth in business and pledged to reopen dialogue with North Korea while maintaining a strong security alliance with the United States (US).
Better to win without fighting
“It is better to win without fighting than to win in a fight, and peace with no need to fight is the best security,” he said.
Lee was officially confirmed earlier as president by the National Election Commission and immediately assumed the powers of the presidency and commander in chief, speaking with the top military leader to receive a report on defence posture.
With all the ballots counted, Lee won 49.42 per cent of the nearly 35 million votes cast while rival Kim Moon-soo took 41.15 per cent in the polls, the highest turnout for a presidential election since 1997, official data showed.
