Asian stock markets edged down on Tuesday following a flat close on Wall Street, as investors searched for the next catalyst following France's presidential election, while oil inched higher on expectations OPEC supply cuts will be extended.
Arguing Hong is the "gang of former President Park and the goner of the history", KCNA said Hong sought to "extend the utterly rotten conservative rule of Park Geun-hye".
The National Election Commission announced that voter turnout of the 42 million Koreans registered to vote was on track to reach over 80 percent, which would be the highest since President Kim Dae-jung was elected in 1997, with 80.7 percent of eligible voters casting ballots.
After voting, Hong said the election was a "war of regime choices between people, whether they decide to accept a North Korea-sympathizing leftist government or a government that can protect the liberty of the Republic of Korea", South Korea's formal name.
South Korea's ousted leader is expected to spend election day alone in a solitary cell without any visitors.
Voters wait for a polling station to open for the presidential elections in Seoul, South Korea, May 9, 2017.
Early indications suggest Mr Moon garnered more than 41 per cent the vote, defeating his two main rivals - Hong Joon-pyo, a conservative from Ms Park's party and former provincial governor, and Ahn Cheol-soo, a centrist with the People's party and former software mogul.
That would end a decade of conservative rule in South Korea and set up a sharp departure from recent policy toward nuclear-armed North Korea. "I lacked (the capability) to satisfy people's ardent wish for change".
Taiwan stocks pulled back to trade 0.25 percent lower on profit taking after earlier surpassing the 10,000-point mark to hit a two-year high.
Such polls are merely a snapshot of the stated intentions of certain voters.
Moon's victory was bolstered by strong support from younger people, the majority of whom voted for him, according to the exit polls.
Police officer who shot down African-American teenager in Texas is dismissed
He served six years in the Army, with two deployments to Iraq, and later completed nearly two years in the Texas National Guard. The officer's identity and race are also being withheld, with Haber refusing to release the video itself.
"I will achieve reforms and national unity, the two missions that our people long for".
Liberal candidate Moon Jae-in has claimed victory in South Korea's presidential election.
The victor is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday, after the Election Commission releases the official result.
"The largely similar stance on policies by the Presidential candidates provides little chance of surprise as compared to last week's French election".
His likely election fills a leadership vacuum created following the impeachment of president Park Geun-hye over corruption allegations in March. The South Korean parliament usually has 300 members but Ahn Cheol-soo dropped out to run for president and has not yet been replaced.
Moon smiled and waved his hands above his head as supporters chanted his name at Gwanghwamun square in central Seoul, where millions of Koreans had gathered for months starting late past year in peaceful protests that eventually toppled Park.
Hong, an outspoken former provincial governor who pitched himself as a "strongman", described the election as a war between ideologies and questioned Moon's patriotism.
Park is jailed awaiting trial later this month on bribery, extortion and other corruption charges.
Frustration over widening inequality in wealth and opportunities fuelled anger over Park's scandal, which exposed the cosy and corrupt ties between regulators and powerful family-oriented conglomerates, known as chaebols, that have endured for decades. Many of those legacies dated to the dictatorship of Park's father, Park Chung-hee, whose 18-year rule was marked by both rapid economic rise and severe civil rights abuse.
Moon has said the decision was made hastily and the next administration should have the final say on whether to deploy the system.
He said in a YouTube live stream on Tuesday that Seoul should take on a more active diplomatic role to curb North Korea's nuclear threat and not watch idly as the United States and China conduct talks.
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