International News
Polls Show South Korea’s Lee On Track To Win Presidency By Landslide
Centre-left candidate Lee Jae-myung is projected to win South Korea’s presidential election by a landslide after months of political chaos, exit polls showed Tuesday, with turnout the highest in nearly three decades.
Six months to the day after ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol plunged the country into crisis with his disastrous declaration of martial law, an exit poll by South Korea’s three major broadcasters showed Lee of the left-leaning Democratic Party with 51.7 percent of the vote.
Challenger Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) was on track to win 39.3 percent, the poll showed.
Hundreds of Lee’s supporters broke into cheers outside the National Assembly, as party officials watching from inside the parliament started a chant of “Lee Jae-myung” as the exit poll results were announced.
For weeks, major polls had put Lee well ahead of Kim — Yoon’s labour minister — who struggled with party infighting and failed to convince a third party candidate to unify and avoid splitting the right-wing vote.
After months of turmoil and a revolving door of lame-duck acting leaders, many South Koreans said they were eager for the country to move forward.
“I hope the next president will create an atmosphere of peace and unity rather than ideological warfare,” cab driver Choi Sung-wook, 68, told AFP as he cast his ballot.
Noh Min-young, 20, who has been protesting in the streets since Yoon declared martial law, told AFP she was “relieved” at the exit poll projection.
“It’s been a tough road. I’m happy because it feels like we’ve seized the opportunity that so many people fought for over the past six months.”
South Korea’s next leader will take office almost immediately — as soon as the National Election Commission finishes counting the votes and validates the result, likely early Wednesday.
He will face a bulging in-tray, including global trade vicissitudes chafing the export-driven economy, some of the world’s lowest birth rates and an emboldened North Korea rapidly expanding its military arsenal.
‘Turning point’
But the fallout from Yoon’s martial law declaration, which has left South Korea effectively leaderless for the first months of US President Donald Trump’s tumultuous second term, was the decisive factor in the election, experts said.
The vote was “largely viewed as a referendum on the previous administration,” Kang Joo-hyun, a political science professor at Sookmyung Women’s University, told AFP.
Yoon’s impeachment over his martial law bid, which saw armed soldiers deployed to parliament, made him the second straight conservative president to be stripped of office after Park Geun-hye in 2017.
“Lee’s victory signals that the Korean public rejects illiberal and undemocratic measures such as martial law,” Gi-Wook Shin, a sociology professor at Stanford University, told AFP.
“This moment will likely be remembered as a peculiar and consequential turning point in South Korea’s political history.”
But Lee’s success is due as much to his rivals’ failings as his own strengths, said Minseon Ku, a postdoctoral researcher at the William & Mary Global Research Institute.
“Lee has a criminal record and was involved in several political and personal scandals, which made him deeply unpopular among many voters in the 2022 presidential election,” Ku said, referring to Lee’s unsuccessful run for top office, when he lost to Yoon by a narrow margin.
His rise to the presidency is “a reflection of the deep political turmoil South Korea has been experiencing”.
South Korean presidents serve a single five-year term.
High turnout
Turnout in the June 3 poll was high, running at around 77.8 percent by late afternoon, officials said — the highest in nearly two decades.
Ballot counting stations swung into action after polls closed at 8:00 pm (1100 GMT), AFP reporters saw, with boxes of ballots arriving at the Seoul National University Gymnasium in Gwanak-gu district.
On election day, Seoul streets were peaceful as people made the most of good weather and a public holiday, but police issued the highest level of alert and deployed thousands of officers to ensure the election and inauguration Wednesday proceed smoothly.
Lee — who survived an assassination attempt last year — has been campaigning in a bullet-proof vest and delivering speeches behind a glass protective shield.
With Lee’s projected victory, the country’s left wing Democratic Party has “strengthened their hold on moderately conservative urban men and women in their 30-40s”, Vladimir Tikhonov, Korean Studies professor at the University of Oslo, told AFP.
These voters “just want some normalcy and gradual improvement of the welfare system”, he said.
“Yoon’s coup attempt scared these people, and for the time being they are not going to return to the PPP.”
Manuel Neuer has been called up to Germany’s World Cup squad – two years after his international retirement.
The 40-year-old was named as part of Julian Nagelsmann’s 26-man squad for the tournament this summer, having not featured for his country since Euro 2024.
Among the list include Premier League players Malick Thiaw and Nick Woltemade – both of Newcastle – Arsenal striker Kai Havertz, Liverpool midfielder Florian Wirtz and Brighton’s Pascal Gross.
Injured duo Serge Gnabry and Anton Stach and forwards Karim Adeyemi, Kevin Schade and Niclas Fullkrug are among those to miss out.
Germany’s World Cup squad in full
Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Alexander Nubel (Stuttgart)
Defenders: Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle)
Midfielders: Pascal Gross (Brighton), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool), Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart)
Forwards: Maximilian Beier (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Galatasaray), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart), Nick Woltemade (Newcastle)
Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has opened up on the club’s decision to appoint Xabi Alonso as their new manager.
The Blues confirmed the Spaniard as their next head coach following the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, with Alonso set to take charge ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Mikel had previously been vocal about Chelsea’s managerial philosophy, urging the club’s ownership to move away from short-term head coaches and interim appointments and instead bring in a proper manager with full control over the squad
Speaking on his most recent podcast, Mikel said:
“I am glad the owners listened to me, and listened to the fans.
“Forget about coaches, what we have always had are managers, and what we need is a manager who decides on the players he wants out and the players who can stay.
“We need a strong personality, and that is what we have got now in Alonso.
“That title has been changed from coach to manager, but I hope it’s not just words and he is actually allowed to manage the squad. But I am very happy with the appointment.”
Chelsea are still in the hunt for Europa League football, and a win over Sunderland on the final day of the Premier League season would go a long way in determining whether Alonso inherits a European stage to build on next season.
Enzo Maresca is believed to have signed a three-year deal to replace outgoing Man City manager Pep Guardiola, after it was revealed that the legendary head coach will be leaving the Etihad at the end of the season.
Speculation around Guardiola’s departure date has been rife as the season draws to a close, despite the Catalan having one year left on his contract.
According to report, Man City’s sponsors were among those to have been told that Guardiola will be calling time on a remarkable trophy-ladened spell on Sunday.
The report also shared that Maresca, Guardiola’s former assistant, was a front-runner for the vacant spot at the dugout, with Fabrizio Romano confirming on Tuesday morning that the ex-Chelsea manager will be taking over.
The Italian head coach has been out of work since his mutual departure from Stamford Bridge under strained circumstances on January 1.
But even before his acrimonious mid-season exit, Maresca has been viewed as a long-term successor to Guardiola following their stint working together at Man City.
The 46-year-old served as Guardiola’s assistant between 2022 and 2023 after previously coaching Man City’s youth sides, before departing to earn Championship promotion with Leicester.
Maresca then went on to win the Uefa Conference League and the Club World Cup with Chelsea during his 18-month spell in west London.
Guardiola is set to celebrate his time in English football with an open-top bus parade in Manchester after winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this season, but until Monday night, the manager had been notably vague over his future plans.
But before news broke of his shock exit, Guardiola had been keen to tamp down any suggestions that he would be commemorated with any fanfare.
‘The club don’t have to do anything, honestly,’ Guardiola, who has yet to officially confirm his departure, said. ‘The important thing in our lives is that when you look back, you can look with a big smile and say “that was good”.
‘Bernardo (Silva) and John (Stones) can feel that. We spoke about it over the last few days. When you’re old, a grandfather, you can look at the memories. That is the most important thing in life.’
Tired of addressing his contractual situation, Guardiola added with a dose of sarcasm: ‘Whatever happens at the end of the season – and when I extend my contract for three more years – I can look back and say, “how nice has that been?”
‘That is the most important thing by far. Most of the people who lived this time here together can feel it.’
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