Right-wing businessman Lee Myung-bak has swept to victory in South Korea's presidential election, his promises to revamp the economy pushing aside concern about his ethics.
With almost all 23 million votes counted, the preliminary official tally gave Lee 48.6 percent of the vote, far ahead of his nearest rival, liberal candidate Chung Dong-young at 26.2 percent.
Speaking tonight after it became clear he had won, Lee told chanting supporters: "I will bring an economy that is now in crisis back to life."
Pre-election polls showed that voters' only real concern was the economy, widely considered to have underperformed during the five-year term of outgoing President Roh Moo-hyun.
The US State Department congratulated Lee on his victory. Roh had strained ties with the United States by criticizing those in Washington he felt took too hard a line with North Korea.
Expectations that Lee would win have been helping the stock market for days, especially those stocks reckoned likely to benefit directly from his economic policies.
He has pledged to lift annual economic growth to 7 per cent - compared with an average of just over 4 per cent under Roh.
Economists warn it could be a struggle because the major US export market may soften and competition from neighbors China and Japan is becoming increasingly tough.
The president-elect will be under strong pressure to implement tough reforms to make South Korea more competitive in the advanced areas of its economy, such as finance, and to compensate as its manufacturing industries are increasingly priced out of the market by lower-cost producers.