The Hindu : Roh Moo-hyun wins presidential poll

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 20, 2002

International

International

Roh Moo-hyun wins presidential poll

By P. S Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Dec.19. Roh Moo-hyun of the New Millennium Party won today's presidential election to emerge as South Korea's 16th head of State.

His victory over his nearest rival, Lee Hoi-chang of the Grand National Party, was sealed when, by 00.40 hrs. on December 20 (Seoul time), Mr. Roh had taken a clear lead of over two percentage points with over 99 per cent of the votes cast being counted. Soon thereafter, the outgoing President, Kim Dae-jung, who did not contest today's poll under a constitutional norm, congratulated Mr. Roh.

About two hours earlier, Mr. Roh had begun celebrating what was then his ``virtual victory''. Thereafter, Mr. Lee conceded defeat even before the result became unambiguous. Mr. Kim congratulated his compatriots for ensuring peaceful voting today in the context of the latest upsurge of popular protest against the U.S.

Mr. Roh's priorities will include ways to place South Korea's strategic relationship with the U.S., now under some strain, back on a smooth course. The need to stand up to North Korea's suspected nuclear brinkmanship, without blinking, and the challenges of the new economy will be other priorities. The orderliness of today's voting, reckoned to have been marked by a lower turn-out than in the past, came as a breath of fresh of air in the wake of the recent wave of anti-U.S. protests across the country.

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