Yoon Suk-yeol wins South Korean presidency

Mar 10, 2022, 09:34 am

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President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol delivers an address after visiting his party’s election situation room at the National Assembly in Seoul on March 10, 2022./ Source: Pool photo

siaToday reporter Lee Yoo-jin

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate Yoon Suk-yeol was elected South Korea’s next president early Thursday morning after a remarkably tight race.

The former prosecutor general won 48.56 percent of the vote or 16.39 million votes, defeating his rival Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) by just 0.73 percentage points or some 240,000 votes.

It is the smallest margin of victory since a direct presidential election system went into effect in 1987.

The 0.73 percentage-point gap makes this year’s election the closest ever.

“It is a victory of the great people,” Yoon said in an address at the National Assembly.

After confirming his victory, he appeared at the National Assembly for a speech and said, “I am deeply grateful to all the party officials and lawmakers for their hard work.”

“It was a heated race, and I learned many things during the race,” Yoon said. “I believe the result is a great victory of the people, rather than a victory of myself, the PPP, Ahn Cheol-soo and the People’s Party.”

“I also want to express my gratitude for DP candidate Lee Jae-myung and Justice Party candidate Sim Sang-jung, and I highly evaluate our contribution for the progress of the Korean politics,” he said.

“I learned a lot about what it takes to become a leader of the nation and how to listen to the voice of the people. The competition is over, and I believe we should all work hard together and become united for the sake of the people and the Republic of Korea.”

Yoon will be the first South Korean president without any legislative experience.

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