South Korea’s crucial vote to choose the next leader of South Korea made headlines beyond the nation Tuesday.
Many foreign media outlets reported the voter turnout in real-time, highlighting that voters were galvanized by anger over the corruption scandal that brought down former president Park Geun-hye in March.
(Yonhap)
News agency Reuters reported that Tuesday’s high turnout showed South Korean voter’s eagerness “to move on from a corruption scandal that brought down the former president and shook the political and business elite.”
Polls closed at 8 p.m. and the voter turnout recorded 77.2 percent. The exit poll conducted by the three broadcasters -- KBS, MBC and SBS -- indicated that Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea had was on course to win the election.
The Associated Press pointed out that a win by Moon “could result in sharp departures from recent policy toward nuclear-armed North Korea.”
American broadcaster CNN reported that South Koreans headed to the polls to choose a new president to replace former president Park Geun-hye, “once known as the “people’s princess.”
CNN said that South Koreans were “ready for transparency.”
The next administration will be laden with urgent issues to “alter the current state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula starting day one, as the winner will immediately take charge,” the CNN said.
British broadcaster BBC picked the economy as the biggest task for the next leader.
BBC reported that “economic issues are a big concern for voters but the election could see a shift in policy toward North Korea.”
BBC underlined young generation’s unemployment crisis, chaebol reforms and Chinese challenges as the main works for the future leader, in the face of “the money-for-influence scandal is what brought down the previous President Park Geun-hye.”
The next leader also faces difficult task of restoring trust after Park Geun-hye’s impeachment, British newspaper the Financial Times said.
The FT reported that “The next president faces the daunting task of restoring trust in political institutions while reviving an economy plagued by surging household debt, high youth unemployment and stagnant wages.”
China’s government-run Xinhua News Agency said “the high rate of early voting reflected a great public interest in the election to pick Park’s replacement.”
Xinhua added that “hopes for the transfer of presidential power exploded with the influence-peddling scandal embroiling Park, which led to her impeachment and arrest, and the subsequent downfall of the conservative bloc.”
By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)