South Koreans vote for new president after tight and bitter election race

South Koreans are voting for a new president, with an outspoken liberal ruling party candidate and a conservative former prosecutor considered the favourites in a tight race that has aggravated domestic divisions (Park Sung-jae/Yonhap/AP)

South Koreans were voting for a new president on Wednesday, with an outspoken liberal ruling party candidate and a conservative former prosecutor considered the favourites in a tight race that has aggravated domestic divisions.

Pre-election surveys showed liberal Lee Jae-myung, an ex-governor of South Korea’s most populous Gyeonggi province, and his main conservative challenger, former prosecutor-general Yoon Suk Yeol, with neck-and-neck support, way ahead of 10 other contenders.