Liberal Candidate Wins in South Korea

Liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung has won South Korea's snap presidential election, two months after his archrival and then conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office over his short-lived imposition of martial law. Lee, who rose from childhood poverty to become South Korea's leading liberal politician, vowing to fight inequality and corruption, will become the country's next president on Wednesday. With over 99% of the votes counted, Lee obtained 49.3% of the votes cast in Tuesday's election, while main conservative contender Kim Moon Soo trailed with 41.3%—a gap that was impossible to overcome mathematically, the AP reports.

• Pre-election surveys also suggested Lee appeared headed for an easy win, riding on deep public frustration over the conservatives in the wake of Yoon's martial law debacle. Kim has struggled to win over moderate swing voters as his People Power Party remains in a quagmire of internal feuding over how to view Yoon's actions.
• Lee will immediately be sworn in as president Wednesday for a single, full term of five years without the typical two-month transition period. The new president will face major challenges including a slowing economy, President Trump's America-first policies, and North Korea's evolving nuclear threats.
• The election serves as another defining moment in the country's resilient democracy, but observers worry a domestic divide worsened after Yoon's martial law stunt is far from over and could pose a big political burden on the new president.
• The past six months saw large crowds of people rallying in the streets to either denounce or support Yoon, while a leadership vacuum caused by Yoon's impeachment and ensuing formal dismissal rattled the country's high-level diplomatic activities and financial markets.

This story has been updated with new developments. (More South Korea stories.)