Conservative Yoon Suk-yeol elected in presidential race

Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative main opposition People Power Party was elected South Korea's new president early Thursday.

Yoon, 61, is a political rookie who just entered the political arena after declaring his presidential bid last June, and became the country's first prosecutor-turned-president in history.

Yoon has controversially pledged to investigate Moon administration excesses if elected. But his political amateurism and inability to control political disputes within his party have weakened his candidacy.