With 97.5% of the vote counted, the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol was declared the winner of the presidential elections in South Korea today with 48.58% support, just eight tenths more than his main rival, the liberal Lee Jae -myung, reported the National Election Commission (NEC).
The victory of Yoon, who will be president for the next five years to replace the liberal Moon Jae-in, marks a shift to the right and breaks the ten-year cycles of alternation between conservatives and progressives that have been going on since the country recovered democracy in 1987.
These presidential elections, which have had an estimated turnout of 77.1% (one tenth less than the 2017 elections) and have been decided by only about 260,000 votes difference, have been the closest since the South Koreans were able to return to able to vote freely 35 years ago.
After 6 years, Ecuador resumes negotiations for a trade agreement with South Korea
Yoon developed a dazzling career as a prosecutor for 25 years, during which he put some of the most powerful figures in the country on the bench and obtained prison sentences for corruption for former conservative presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye. , who was removed from office in 2017.
After being appointed attorney general during the term of current President Moon, Yoon prosecuted the then Minister of Justice, Cho Kuk, and faced the Executive, resigning at the beginning of last year and making his candidacy official for these elections in mid-2021.
Yoon has seemed to capitalize on the discontent that Moon leaves in a large part of the population due to the real estate crisis, the increase in temporary employment and inequality or the fatigue due to the persistent anti-covid restrictions, which are still active (the country has added some 300,000 cases per day) and have harmed the small businessman.
After a campaign full of scandals and disqualifications in which the two favorite candidates have always been very evenly matched in the polls, Lee admitted his defeat minutes before the NEC declared Yoon the winner and congratulated his rival in a statement that has read at the headquarters of its formation, the Democratic Party (PD).
Following the announcement by the NEC, Yoon left his home and briefly thanked the voters for their support before the cameras before heading to the headquarters of his bloc, the People’s Power Party (PPP), in the Yeouido district of Seoul. .
Yoon is scheduled to take office on May 10.
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
