SOUTH KOREA:South Korea's main conservative opposition candidate and former Hyundai chief executive Lee Myung-bak swept to power in the presidential election yesterday, ending a decade of liberal rule, exit polls showed.
Mr Lee, of the conservative Grand National Party, was nearly 22 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival Chung Dong-young of the pro-government United New Democratic Party, with nearly all votes counted.
Mr Lee stood on a pro-business ticket and has been odds-on to win all through the campaign. He has promised to take a more critical view of Seoul's relations with rival North Korea while seeking closer ties with Washington.
His election remains subject to an independent investigation into a share-manipulation case, which was authorised by parliament last week and which is due to be finished before his inauguration on February 25th. He has already been cleared of wrongdoing by prosecutors and Mr Lee said he would step aside from the presidency if found at fault.
"I deeply thank the people for their wholehearted support. It is not my victory. It is a victory of the people. I'll serve the people with humility and a humble attitude," Mr Lee told supporters in central Seoul.
Born in 1941, Mr Lee was a student activist while at Korea University, which earned him a jail sentence, but he followed this up by joining Hyundai Construction, one of Korea's big industrial concerns. He became chief executive at 36. He went into politics in his 50s and joined National Assembly for the first time in 1992, becoming mayor of Seoul in July 2002 where he launched himself into a number of high-profile and politically-astute projects, including the construction of a park where once an elevated expressway stood.
He has pledged to allow easier inward investment into South Korea's notoriously knotty system and wants to strengthen a security alliance with the US and improve ties with regional players, such as old enemy Japan, China and Russia.
Mr Lee calls his broader programme "Korea 747", which aims to have annual economic growth of 7 per cent, per capita GDP of €27,000 and to raise South Korea in the world table to seventh-largest economy from 13th now.
The biggest political issue in South Korea is North Korea. While people favour reunification, they also see the North as a potential invader.
South Koreans fear reunification could cost the country too much money and Mr Lee wants to make sure aid efforts to the North should be part of broader international drives to make Pyongyang give up nuclear weapons.
He has promised to built a €27bn international development fund for North Korea, as well as help to rebuild its infrastructure and build five free economic zones in the North.
