The government today congratulated South Korea on its snap presidential election yesterday won by Lee Jae-myung of the opposition Democratic Party.

Facing a complex set of thorny challenges at home and abroad, Lee Jae-myung says he will deal with them with “pragmatism.”

The new South Korean president, Lee Jae-myung, calls himself a foreign policy “pragmatist”. He says he is driven by South Korea’s national interest, rather than ideology, and has spoken of his desire to improve relations with China and North Korea.