10 May,2017 09:32 AM IST | Seoul | Agencies
After a decade of conservative, exit polls say Moon Jae-in will win the election by a landslide
Presidential candidate Moon Jae-in with a supporter after voting. Pic/AP
Exit polls in South Korea forecast that liberal candidate Moon Jae-in will win an election yesterday to succeed ousted President Park Geun-hye.
Official results weren't expected for hours, but the exit poll of about 89,000 voters at 330 polling stations, jointly commissioned by three major television stations and released just after polls closed, showed Moon receiving 41.4 percent of the vote.
His two main rivals, conservative Hong Joon-pyo and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo, were expected to garner 23.3 percent and 21.8 per cent, respectively, according to the exit poll.
People gather to watch live broadcasts of coverage of election. Pic/AFP
A win by Moon would end a decade of conservative rule in South Korea and could result in sharp departures from recent policy toward nuclear-armed North Korea.
The winning candidate will be officially sworn in after the election commission finishes the vote count and declares the winner Wednesday morning. This forgoes the usual two-month transition because yesterday's vote was a by-election to choose a successor to Park, whose term was to end in February 2018.
89k Number of voters casting their vote this election
