Both Lee and conservative Kim pledged change for a country deeply scarred by a shock martial law briefly imposed by former leader Yoon Suk Yeol.

South Korea’s liberal opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung was expected to win an early presidential election on Tuesday.

South Korea's right is looking to remake itself after a massive defeat in this week's snap presidential election that left it with little power to challenge the ruling Democratic Party. New leader Lee Jae-myung and his party now control parliament and the presidency with Tuesday's polls exposing the smouldering resentment in South Korea over former President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched martial law declaration in December.