The debilitating political vacuum that has reigned in Seoul since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment on December 14 has finally ended. On June 3, Lee Jae-myung won South Korea’s presidential election by a decisive margin.

In his inauguration speech, Lee Jae-myung, South Korea’s newly elected president, pledged to strengthen the nation’s alliance with the United States while pursuing a pragmatic relationship with China.

(Reuters) -South Korea has elected liberal Lee Jae-myung as president to lead the country through a tumultuous period that will require negotiating trade tariffs with the U.S. and mending the scars from his ousted predecessor's shock martial law declaration.