He also vowed to revive the economy and seek peace with nuclear-armed North Korea through dialogue and strength.
The martial law decree and the six months of ensuing turmoil, which saw three different acting presidents and multiple criminal insurrection trials for Yoon and several top officials, marked a stunning political self-destruction for the former leader and effectively handed the presidency to his main rival.
Yoon was impeached by the Lee-led parliament, then removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April, less than three years into his five-year term, triggering the snap election that now stands to remake the country’s political leadership and foreign policies of a key US ally.
Lee has accused the PPP of having condoned the martial law attempt by not fighting harder to thwart it and even trying to save Yoon’s presidency.
Kim was Yoon’s labour minister when the former president declared martial law on Dec 3.
“I was here on Dec 3 after martial was declared and December 14 when Yoon was impeached,” said Choi Mi-jeong, 55, a science teacher who gathered outside parliament to hear Lee speak. “Now Lee Jae-myung is becoming president. I hope he will become a leader who supports ordinary people, not vested interests, not a small number of riches.”
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a briefing that Washington was awaiting final certification before commenting.
Official results were expected to be certified by the National Election Commission on Wednesday morning after ballots are sorted and counted by machine, then triple-checked by election officials by hand to verify accuracy.
