SEOUL, South Korea _ South Koreans began voting Tuesday in a special election to replace ousted leader Park Geun-hye, the culmination of months of political discord marked by the country's biggest street protests since the 1980s.
Polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m., with exit polls released shortly afterward. A winner is expected sometime around midnight in Seoul.
Moon Jae-in, the runner-up to Park in 2012, is the favorite to become president and end nine years of conservative rule. His rivals include Ahn Cheol-soo, 55, of the centrist People's Party, and Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party, an offshoot of Park's conservative wing.
The winner will inherit a nation riven by divisions, with younger voters pushing back against an older generation that have put right-leaning politicians in charge of South Korea for most of the time since it embraced democracy. Park's downfall has split the conservative camp and provided an opening for Moon, who advocates dialogue with North Korea and measures to rein in family-run conglomerates known as chaebol.
South Korea's Kospi index jumped 2.3 percent on Monday, the most since September 2015, to a fresh record ahead of the election. The nation's equities have rallied on an improving global outlook, even as bonds and the currency have lagged on risks related to North Korea.
The nation's next leader faces the challenge of reviving Asia's fourth-biggest economy, which is forecast to grow at the slowest pace this year since 2012. The youth unemployment rate has doubled over the past two decades.
The winner will take power immediately, without the normal transition period, for a single five-year term. Park was impeached in March and is facing trial over allegations that she received bribes from top business leaders including Samsung Group heir apparent Jay Y. Lee. Both deny any wrongdoing.
Moon has said he'll talk with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un under the right conditions, and opposed the United States' move to deploy a missile shield in South Korea shortly before the election. His firm anti-war stance risks undermining U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of military force against Kim if he fails to stop testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
On Monday, Moon appealed to voters for a large mandate. A record 26.1 percent of more than 42 million voters have cast ballots before election day.
"I want to be a president for unity," Moon said. "Without united power from the people, the president will make a shaky step from the beginning."
Hong, 62, is a self-described strongman referred to in local media as "Hong Trump." He has portrayed himself as pro-business and has taken a hard line against North Korea, calling on the U.S. to bring tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea.
"I'll block the North Korea-friendly powers from deciding our North Korea policy, labor unions from deciding economic policy, and teachers unions from ruining our education by distorting our history," Hong said on Monday. "I'll re-build the foundation for the free Republic of Korea that the leftists have torn down."
Ahn, a former software tycoon, called on voters to choose him while acknowledging it would be an uphill battle.
"The sea of the people's wishes will reverse the opinion-poll results," he said.
