The U.S. ally has been without a permanent leader since late last year, when then-President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached over his botched declaration of martial law.

South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is projected to be the new president following a snap election on Tuesday, according to an exit poll by Korean broadcasters, in a vote held exactly six months after the country’s previous leader declared martial law and plunged the nation into chaos.

Mr Lee led the opposition to Mr Yoon’s declaration of martial law, the first such order since South Korea democratised in the late 1980s. By contrast, Kim Moon-soo, the standard-bearer for the conservative People Power Party ( PPP ),