South Korean voters will elect the country’s next president today, capping a race that has been marked by surprises, scandals and smear campaigns. Al Jazeera reports that the race to lead Asia’s fourth-largest economy has crystallised into a tight two-way matchup between Lee Jae-myung, the standard-bearer of the ruling Democratic Party, and Yoon Suk-yeol, a former chief prosecutor and political neophyte who is representing the conservative People Power Party. Whoever wins will face mounting challenges, including deepening inequality, a rock-bottom birth rate, surging house prices and the threat of nuclear-armed North Korea.
