Lee Jae Myung, 61, elected as South Korea's president, vows to have no more military coups

South Korean voters have chosen Democratic Party (DPK) candidate Lee Jae Myung as their next president, 60 days after the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment over his declaration of martial law.

Lee, 61, won with 49.42 per cent of the votes, beating the ruling People Power Party's (PPP) candidate Kim Moon Soo, according to Reuters.

Kim, who had served as Yoon's labour minister, received 41.15 per cent of the votes.

He conceded defeat in a press conference at PPP's headquarters and congratulated Lee for his victory.

A total of 44,391,871 people were registered to vote, with 14,295 polling stations nationwide, Yonhap reported.

Voting began at 6am and ended at 8pm.

Victory speech

In his victory speech, Lee promised to "overcome the insurrection" and ensure there is no more "military coup", a reference to his predecessor's attempt to impose martial law, Yonhap reported.

"I will fulfil my mission of creating a world where democracy is restored and the people are respected as sovereign in a democratic republic while living together in cooperation with each other," Lee said, as quoted by Yonhap.

Lee also promised to place his focus on reviving the economy.

He began his presidential term on Wednesday (Jun. 4), with inauguration set at 11am, reported The Korea Times.

Lee Jae Myung

Lee Jae Myung, 60, was the opposition leader and presidential candidate from the Democratic Party (DPK).

On Dec. 3, when Yoon declared martial law, Lee, who was DPK's chairman at that time, mobilised all his party lawmakers to rush to the National Assembly to vote down the decree.

He livestreamed himself jumping over the fence to get to the parliament to vote against the martial law.

According to the Korean constitution, martial law can be lifted if a majority of parliament demands it,  Yonhap reported. 

190 of 300 national assembly members voted for the law to be lifted in the wee hours on Dec. 4.

DPK has 175 seats out of 300, with the PPP holding 100 seats.

Lee subsequently led an assembly vote to impeach Yoon before the Constitutional Court formally upheld the former president's impeachment on Apr. 4.

Lee is facing five criminal trials for corruption and other charges.

While a sitting South Korean president has immunity from most criminal charges, it is unclear whether this applies to cases that started before they took office, Reuters reported.

Top image via 2_jaemyung/Instagram