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 main conservative candidate Kim Moon Soo has conceded defeat in the presidential election. Kim, the candidate of the People Power Party, told a news conference early Wednesday that he “humbly accepts (the) people’s choice” and congratulates his liberal rival Lee Jae-myung for winning the election.

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.