SOUTH KOREA: Moon Jae-in sworn-in as president after landslide win

64-year-old Moon Jae-in has taken the oat of office as the next President of South Korea after a landslide win against his closest rival Hoon Joon-pyo.

The liberal politician is the new president of South Korea after winning 41 percent of vote cast comfortably edging conservative Hong Joon-pyo and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo, who gathered 24 percent and 21 percent of the votes, respectively, ending nearly a decade of conservative rule.

In his first address, the new president vowed to address the economy and relations with the North, and that he would even be willing to visit North Korea under the right circumstances.

Mr Moon took his oath of office in Seoul’s National Assembly building a day after his decisive win.

“I will be president for all South Koreans,” Moon, 64, told cheering supporters in the capital, Seoul, on Tuesday after his rivals conceded defeat.

“This is a great victory of great people who stayed with me to create a country of justice … where rules and common sense prevail,” the former human rights lawyer said.

Moon will replace ousted and disgraced Park Geun-hye who was axed from office earlier in March over corruption allegations.

Choi Soon-Sil, Park’s secret confidante at the heart of the scandal, is already on trial for forcing top local firms to “donate” nearly $70 million to non-profit foundations she allegedly used for personal gain.

Park who is the first leader to be ousted from office accepted responsibility for the events that culminated in the Constitutional Court upholding a parliamentary impeachment vote over an influence-peddling scandal that has shaken the political and business elite in South Korea.

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