Moon declares election win, pledges to unify South Korea

Presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party walks to cast his ballot at a junior high school in Seoul

Moon Jae-in declared victory in South Korea’s leadership race, pledging to unify the nation after nine years of conservative rule that culminated in the country’s biggest street protests since the 1980s.

With 40 percent of ballots counted in yesterday’s presidential election, Moon received 39.5 percent of votes, leading conservative Hong Joon-pyo, who had 26.5 percent. Centrist Ahn Cheol-soo was third with 21.2 percent. The winner needs a plurality of votes.

“This is really a victory for the people who did their utmost to make a country for justice, unity, principles and common sense,” Moon said in a speech to supporters in Seoul. “I’ll become the president for everyone. A president who serves even those who didn’t support me.”

The left-leaning Moon has long led opinion surveys in an election triggered by the ouster in March of former President Park Geun-hye, who is now in jail while on trial for corruption charges. He has pledged a softer touch with North Korea and tougher action against family-run conglomerates that dominate Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.

Moon’s stance on North Korea could put him at odds with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has stressed that he could take military action to halt the isolated nation’s nuclear ambitions. The son of North Korean refugees, Moon criticized the early installation of a U.S. missile shield on South Korean soil and has said he’d meet with Kim Jong Un under the right circumstances.

At home, Moon faces the task of healing a nation which is still reeling from the graft probe that culminated in Park’s arrest in March after months of street protests. He has pledged to add fiscal stimulus to create jobs for disaffected youth and bolster an economy forecast to expand this year at the slowest pace since 2012. 

A total of 77.2 percent of voters cast their ballots, more than the 75.8 percent in the 2012 presidential election, which Moon lost to Park, according to the National Election Commission.

Supporters gathered to cheer Moon as he gave his victory speech in Gwanghwamum square in downtown Seoul, where hundreds of thousands of protesters had rallied every Saturday for months to demand Park’s ouster.

Ahn, a software tycoon who had been billed as Moon’s main rival, conceded defeat, saying he failed to meet a desire for change among the public. Bloomberg