South Korea votes for new president

SEOUL, South Korea — South Koreans voted for a new president today in an election widely expected to end a decade of liberal rule — if the nation can overlook a scandal that has tainted the front-runner.

Lee Myung-bak of the conservative Grand National Party, who has pledged to be a business-friendly leader who will boost the economy, has led in opinion polls throughout the race by large margins. A former Hyundai CEO and Seoul mayor, he has also said he would take a more critical view of Seoul's engagement with rival North Korea while seeking closer U.S. ties.

But just days before the vote, parliament voted to authorize an independent counsel investigation of Lee in a stock manipulation case in which prosecutors had already cleared him of wrongdoing. The probe is to be completed before the Feb. 25 inauguration, and Lee has said he would step aside from the presidency if found at fault.

Some 37 million voters in this country of 49 million people are eligible to cast ballots. Election turnout was expected to hit a record low largely due to increasing public apathy over politics and the lopsided contest that has been dominated by Lee. In the 2002 poll, turnout was 70.8 percent, the lowest since 1987, the country's first direct election after years of authoritarian military rule.

Unlike previous elections dominated by security policy with rival North Korea or relations with the United States, this year voters were focused on the economy due to concern over sky-high real estate prices, soaring unemployment and a widening gap between rich and poor.

Nicknamed "The Bulldozer" for his can-do business acumen, Lee's support has been bolstered due to dissatisfaction over the five-year term of liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, who is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election.

"I want to thank the people who have defended me from numerous negative campaigns," Lee told reporters Wednesday morning, after casting a ballot in a polling station near his home in Seoul. "This time, we have to change the government without fail. To do so, all the people should take part in the voting."

Lee, who turns 66 on election day, first gained prominence as head of Hyundai's construction unit that symbolized South Korea's meteoric economic rise in the 1960s and 1970s. As Seoul mayor from 2002-1006, he made his mark by opening up a long-paved-over stream to create a new landmark in the capital that also earned him environmental credibility.