South Korea Elects Dove As President

South Korea's voters chose a progressive new president yesterday in a tight election result which may give peace a better chance on the divided Korean peninsula.

The reform-minded Roh Moo-hyun, the candidate for the pro-government Millennium Democratic party, defeated the conservative Lee Hoi-chang by a margin of 2.3%.

The gap had narrowed sharply in the final days of the campaign.

With most of the votes counted, Mr Roh had 48.9% against Mr Lee's 46.6%. Turnout was 70.2%, almost 11% lower than the 1997 presidential election.

"Inter-Korean peace and cooperation is not a matter of choice. The survival of 70 million people is at stake," Mr Roh said on the day before polling.

He comes from a poor farming family and has pledged to continue the "sunshine policy" of president Kim Dae-jung towards the North despite Washington's diplomatic obstruction.

However he attacked "corruption and mismanagement" within the government. Mr Kim has lost public support after a wave of scandals extending to his own family.

Mr Roh benefited from the support of younger Koreans who are more willing to take chances to escape from the shadow of the cold war.

Seven out of every 10 voters are aged between 20 and 40.

Mr Roh, 56, is nine years younger than the hawkish Mr Lee. Both served in the army. Mr Lee was a captain before becoming a high court judge, and Mr Roh made his name as a human rights lawyer after serving as a corporal.

Mr Lee, running for the rightwing Grand National party, argued unsuccessfully that war was more likely unless the South stood firm against the alleged nuclear blackmail of the North.

His warning that South Korea would fall "into the hands of the radicals" was more effective among older Koreans who grew up in the time of civil war and division.

On Wednesday Mr Roh seemed to have gone too far by suggesting that the South would not necessarily support the US in a conflict with the North. "If the US and North Korea start a fight, we should dissuade them," he said.

His statement prompted the withdrawal of his official running-mate, Chung Mong-joon, a former candidate and the popular organiser of the World Cup.

The move by Mr Chung, who has his own political ambitions, appears to have been discounted by voters.

Mr Roh began his career as a radical lawyer who defended students accused of sedition by the military-dominated regime in the 1980s. He was arrested in 1987 after supporting a banned workers' protest. He made his name a year later by exposing government corruption.

Poll analysts say that the generation of the 1980s that grew up in a time of transition was an important "swing" factor in the poll.

It has been called the "sandwich generation": those who can remember the struggle against oppression while enjoying Korea's affluent modern lifestyle. They are closer in outlook to Mr Roh.

The new president has recently upset Korean industrial magnates by telling them that "the reform of conglomerates is critical and should be continued".

He also wants tighter controls on media companies.

Mr Roh has never visited the US and will be viewed warily in Washington. In the past he has called for the withdrawal of US forces from Korea but now says he supports a strong security alliance - though on more equal terms.