South Korean conservative declares win in presidential race
The Hindu
People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk Yeol won 48.59% of the votes, narrowly edging liberal rival Lee Jae-myung who garnered 47.80%.
A conservative former prosecutor declared victory in South Korea’s presidential election on Thursday after his liberal ruling party rival conceded defeat after a bitter battle in the politically divided nation.
With around 98% of the ballots counted as of 4:00 a.m., People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk Yeol won 48.59% of the votes, narrowly edging liberal rival Lee Jae-myung who garnered 47.80%.
Yeol thanked his supporters outside his home in capital Seoul after what he described as a “long night.”
He spoke shortly after Jae-myung conceded defeat during a news conference at the campaign office of his Democratic Party, where he congratulated Yeol and called for him to heal the country’s divisions.
Yeol will take office in May and serve a single five-year term as leader of the world’s 10th-largest economy, which is now grappling with stark income inequalities and soaring personal debt and facing growing threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.