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	Park Geun-hye wins S.Korean presidential election Exit polls show S. Korea's presidential election still too close to call Exit polls indicated South Korea's two top presidential candidates neck and neck in the tightly contested race, with conservative favorite Park Geun-hye holding a slight lead over her liberal rival Moon Jae-in. Polls open in tight South Korean presidential election Polls opened early in the morning of December 19 in South Korea's closely contested presidential election, which pits the daughter of a military strongman against a former human rights lawyer once jailed for protesting his rule. SK rivals in final push for votes With just one day to go before South Korea's presidential election, the two candidates are pushing hard to win over voters, especially the undecided in a race that has so far been too close to call.
Updates: ●Voter turnout was 65.2 percent as of 3 pm local time, up 2.2 percent from the previous 2007 poll, the country's election watchdog said. ●Voting began at 6 am local time at 13,542 polling stations nationwide, with more than 40.4 million eligible voters poised to cast their ballots. Polls close at 6 pm, and the result is expected by midnight.

Media Concerns

South Korean media editorials:

Korea JoongAng Daily: Wisdom needed today
Today’s election is to choose a leader who can deftly address the daunting challenges of the next five years. Our next president must be ready for more belligerence ahead as well as a possible collapse of the Pyongyang regime.

The Chosun Ilbo: Voters Should Take the Presidential Election Seriously
Voters must head to the polls on Wednesday with a clear idea of which candidate they think is capable of energizing the people of Korea;

Voters must decide which candidate is more likely to choose officials who will work for the good of the country rather than the president;

Voters must decide who is capable of formulating North Korea policies that satisfy both sides and of carrying them out.

Chinese media digest:

China News Service: Economics and people's livelihoods dominate the issues that the voters care the most about, especially the former.

People's Daily Online: Usually voters from different circles, of different ages and educational background, will pick up their favorite candidates having different political stances in the past South Korean presidential elections.

The Beijing News: Park's family background, as the daughter of the former president, made her seem steadier and more experienced in handling political and diplomatic issues.

Background

Candidates information
Name	Park Geun-hye	Moon Jae-in
Age	60	59
Party	New Frontier Party	Democratic United Party
Political life	Leader of the New Frontier Party: Dec. 17, 2011 – May 15, 2012; Mar. 23, 2004 – July 10, 2006 First Lady of South Korea: Aug. 16, 1974 – Oct. 26, 1979	Chief Secretary of the President: Mar. 2007 - Feb. 2008 Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs: Jan. 2005 - May 2006
Special status	Daughter of late president Park Chung-hee; "First female president" if wins the election	Former human rights lawyer; A close friend of late President Roh Moo-hyun

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