South Korea votes for a new president after corruption scandal that toppled the last one

Moon Jae-in, frontrunner for South Korean president — (Image credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

South Koreans are voting for a new president on Tuesday, in a special election prompted by the impeachment and arrest of former President Park Geun-hye in a wide-ranging corruption scandal. The frontrunner in the polls is Moon Jae-in (pictured) of the left-leaning Democratic Party, followed by centrist candidate Ahn Cheol-soo and Hong Joon-pyo, the conservative candidate of Park's embattled Liberty Korea Party. There are 10 other candidates on the ballot, too.

Moon has pledged to soften Seoul's hardline policy toward North Korea and reassess the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile-defense system in South Korea. The polls close at 8 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EDT), and unofficial results are expected to be released soon after. The winner will be confirmed Wednesday and sworn in immediately for a full five-year term.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.