Liberal candidate Moon Jae-in wins South Korean presidential election

Moon Jae-in, a leftist liberal candidate, has won South Korea's presidential election following the impeachment of previous leader Park Geun-hye.

According to exit polls from the Yonhap news agency, Moon has taken 41.4% of the vote, ahead of nearest challenger Hong Joon-Pyo on 23.3%.

Moon's win is thought to be a step towards an improvement in relations with neighbour North Korea, which have deteriorated since the beginning of the year in the absence of a president in Seoul. The 64-year-old’s policies aim to focus on equality and lowering unemployment in the state.

Moon's win is thought to be a step towards an improvement in relations with neighbours North Korea

He called for a more conciliatory approach to the Kim Jong-un regime during his election campaign following a tense period in which Pyongyang appeared to up the ante in its missile testing programme.

South Korean politics was rocked last year when a series of scandals enveloped the political and business elite of the country, which led to the impeachment of Park, who is alleged to have received cash in exchange for certain decisions during her time in office.

Asian markets finished mostly lower on Tuesday as results were coming in, but the South Korean KOSPI index was 3.29% higher on Monday as investors pushed the index to all-time highs during the session.