South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is projected to be the new president following a snap election on Tuesday, according to an exit poll by Korean broadcasters, in a vote held exactly six months after the country’s previous leader declared martial law and plunged the nation into chaos.

The joint exit poll from KBS, MBC and SBS projects that Lee, 60, of the liberal Democratic Party, will win 51.7% of the vote. His main rival, Kim Moon-soo of the ruling conservative People Power Party, is projected to win 39.3% of the vote.

Official results are yet to be announced, but in previous elections the exit polling was closely in line with the final tally.

This election was closely watched and may now offer South Koreans some semblance of political stability after half a year of uncertainty and turmoil as the US ally and economic powerhouse navigated the aftermath of the martial law crisis.

It also comes as South Korea’s export-oriented economy grapples with global events like US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a potential recession, all without a permanent leader at the helm.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on December 3 last year in a short-lived power-grab that was halted after lawmakers pushed their way past soldiers into the legislature and voted to block the decree. Yoon was impeached soon after and formally removed from office in April.

In the months since that dramatic night, South Korea’s government has been in disarray, with a revolving door of interim leaders ahead of the snap election.

The acting leader of the Democratic Party, Park Chan-dae, said in an interview Tuesday night that the results of the exit poll reflect “people’s fiery judgement against the insurrection regime.”

Voter turnout reached 79.3%, according to the country’s National Election Commission.

Lee, a divisive figure within Korean politics, emerged early on as the frontrunner, despite recent legal challenges and allegations of corruption and abuse of power. If official results mirror the exit poll, he could be inaugurated as early as Wednesday – and faces a host of issues waiting to be tackled.

South Korea’s economy has stuttered in recent months, with rising costs of living and lower consumption. There are trade talks with the US over Trump’s tariffs, although no deal has been struck yet. There are also national challenges like the country’s aging society and falling birthrate, and geopolitical tensions with China and North Korea.

Lee’s rise to the top

A former underage factory worker from a poor family, Lee became a human rights lawyer before entering politics. He is a former mayor of Seongnam city, home to around 1 million people, and governor of Gyeonggi province, and most recently served as a lawmaker after narrowly losing to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election.

He survived an assassination attempt in January 2024 when a man stabbed him in the neck during a public event in the city of Busan. The injury required surgery, but was not life threatening, officials said at the time.

Later that year, he again made headlines on the night Yoon declared martial law and sent troops to parliament, becoming one of the lawmakers who rushed to the legislature and pushed past soldiers to hold an emergency vote to lift martial law. He livestreamed himself jumping over a fence to enter the building, in a viral video viewed tens of millions of times.

On the campaign trail, often speaking behind bulletproof glass and wearing a bulletproof vest, Lee promised political and economic reforms, including more controls on a president’s ability to declare martial law, and revising the constitution to allow two four-year presidential terms instead of the current single five-year term. He also supports boosting small businesses and growing the AI industry.

He has emphasized easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula while holding onto the longtime goal of denuclearizing North Korea. His aides say human rights will remain central to engagement with Pyongyang, including discussions on returning any living prisoners of war from the 1950-53 Korean War.

But Lee has also been embroiled in controversy, including several ongoing trials for alleged bribery and charges related to a property development scandal.

Separately, he was convicted of violating election law in another ongoing case that alleges he knowingly made a false statement during a debate in the last presidential campaign. The case has been sent to an appeals court.

Opponents accuse Lee of being a polarizing figure in South Korean politics, openly criticizing former President Yoon and blocking legislation proposed by Yoon’s government. Yoon even cited Lee’s Democratic Party and its undermining of the government’s budget bill as a reason for declaring martial law.

Diplomatic recalibration ahead

Lee’s team has pledged to reestablish trust with the US, which his advisers have said was weakened during the martial law crisis.

The Biden administration was caught off guard by the brief challenge to South Korea’s democracy, experts say, after the White House invested significant time to forge a landmark security partnership between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.

Ahead of the election, Lee’s foreign policy adviser Wi Sunglac said the alliance with Washington would remain the “cornerstone” of South Korea’s diplomacy.

Seoul is also actively negotiating with the US over Trump’s tariffs, which include a 25% levy on South Korean exports and 25% duties on imports of automobiles and steel products. Trump has suggested more duties on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals – all predominant industries for South Korea’s economy.

Relations with China and Russia, strained in recent years, will be managed through “strategic engagement,” with Lee’s camp saying peace and security in the region require ongoing dialogue with both.

A dog who went missing for more than a month and covered about 100 miles – including a mile-long swim – has finally been returned to her foster home after being rescued at sea.

Five-year-old Amber bolted in late April, a day after arriving in London from Qatar, where she was rescued from the streets.

News of Amber’s escape was posted on social media and around the local area. Numerous sightings were reported and pictures and video clips sent to the rescue service, which enabled them to map Amber’s movements.

“Within the first three weeks she was probably only travelling around 10 miles from where she had gone missing but in different directions,” said Collins.

Pictures and video clips that they received enabled KS Rescue Angels to set up cameras and feeding stations.

“We were doing this for three or four weeks and we always seemed to be one step behind her. Then it all went dark around the four-week mark and we stopped getting any reliable sightings.”

Collins believes this was probably when Amber travelled 30 miles to the coastal town of Poole. Locals had reported sightings there of a stray dog but it was too far away for anyone to make the connection.

Incredibly, Amber managed to swim a mile from the town’s affluent neighbourhood of Sandbanks to Brownsea Island. Managed by the National Trust, Brownsea is a wildlife haven where dogs are not usually welcome.

“She spent three days there and there was a search party from the National Trust, as well as a lady who lived there who put food out for her every night. She probably got spooked by all the people trying to catch her so she tried to swim back to Sandbanks but got into trouble when she got caught in the currents and tide,” Collins said.

Fortunately, however, Amber was spotted by a passing boat.

“She swam to the boat and actually hooked her paws around the ladder on the side,” said Collins. “They couldn’t pull her up because she had actually hooked her paws so tightly, so one of the lads jumped in the water to get in from behind her and push her into the boat.”

Back on dry land, news of the amazing recovery circulated on social media – and eventually reached Collins who recognized Amber from a scar on her nose.

Once she was collected, Amber was checked over by a vet who found she had lost weight but was otherwise well. She is now back with the foster family.

“She’s been very tired but very snuggly,” said Collins. “She’s got a couple of bruises where she’s probably caught herself on barbed wire, thorn bushes or something, but other than that she’s in remarkable condition considering.

“She’s being kept on at least two, possibly three leads at any time in the garden. The foster home is terrified of her getting out again.”

Collins said Amber likely covered about 100 miles during her extended walkies.

Amber will remain with the family for at least a couple of weeks, after which KS Rescue Angels hope she will be rehomed.

“The story has blown up so we’ve had quite a lot of interest from people wanting to adopt her,” said Collins, adding that extensive checks must be carried out. “We need to make sure that whoever she goes to gives her a five-star home and understands that she’s a flight risk.”

A new program for getting desperately needed food into the hands of starving Palestinians in Gaza is only days old, but it’s already mired in chaos and tragedy.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed over the past few days while on their way to trying to obtain aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). This group, backed by Israel and the US, is intended to replace the UN-led system of distributing aid in Gaza, to address a hunger crisis sparked by a monthslong Israeli blockade.

Over the past week, tens of thousands of Palestinians have converged on distribution points run by GHF, hoping to grab one of the limited number of packages before they run out.

For the past three days, Palestinian authorities and witnesses have accused Israeli forces of shooting dozens of civilians dead near one of the aid sites in Rafah.

On Monday and Tuesday, Israel’s military said it fired “warning shots” toward what were described as “suspects” approaching a military position, and the military was looking into reports of casualties. On Sunday, during the first deadly shooting, the military said it did not fire at civilians “near or within” the distribution site, even as a military source admitted Israeli forces fired towards individuals about a kilometer away from the site.

As international condemnation grows, here’s what to know about aid and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

What is the situation with food in Gaza?

Israel halted all humanitarian aid into Gaza in early March, with government officials saying their goal was to force Hamas to accept new ceasefire terms and release hostages taken during the militant group’s terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The ban meant no supplies entered the territory for 11 weeks, pushing Gaza’s 2.1 million people deeper into a hunger crisis. A UN-backed report warned in late April that one in five people were facing starvation and that the entire Gaza Strip was edging closer to famine.

Faced with growing international pressure, Israel eased its blockade two weeks ago, allowing a small amount of aid to enter Gaza, to be distributed through UN channels as well as through GHF. But the amount of aid trickling in is nowhere near enough to meet the needs of the population, according to Palestinian officials and international aid groups.

On the first day of GHF’s delivery in southern Gaza last Tuesday, chaos broke out, as thousands of Palestinians rushed to receive food supplies, with Israeli troops firing warning shots into the air and the US contractors overseeing the site briefly withdrawing.

Gaza’s hunger crisis long predates Israel’s total blockade, however. Since Hamas’ attack, Israel has severely restricted the amount of aid that can enter the strip. And even before October 2023, Israel and Egypt had imposed a partial blockade on Gaza, meaning that 63% of the population was food insecure, according to the UN.

What is GHF?

GHF is a private, non-profit organization created with the backing of Israel and the US to take over aid delivery in Gaza, following Israeli accusations that Hamas was stealing some of the humanitarian aid that was destined for civilians. GHF relies on private military contractors for security and aims to replace traditional methods of aid delivery in Gaza employed by humanitarian organizations.

On Tuesday, the organization doubled down on its mechanism, saying its work continues “full-steam ahead” as it asserts it has delivered millions of meals in pre-packaged boxes to Palestinians. “In an operating environment as complex and volatile as Gaza, that kind of safe, direct, and large-scale aid delivery is unprecedented,” GHF said in a statement.

The group has faced internal turmoil – its executive director, Jake Wood, quit the day before GHF began operations in Gaza, and in a further blow, the Boston Consulting Group confirmed on Tuesday that it had canceled its contract with GHF.

The foundation set up four “Secure Distribution Sites” in southern and central Gaza aiming to feed around 1.2 million of Gaza’s estimated 2.1 million population. That pales in comparison to the United Nations system, which relies on some 400 aid distribution points dotted up and down Gaza.

The foundation coordinates with the Israeli military to designate specific routes for traveling Palestinians – many of whom must walk a long way through the devastated strip to get food – and issues warnings on Facebook against diverging from the designated roads.

But it’s unclear how many of those people are aware of these detailed instructions, nor how access to one of the hubs, designated SDS-01, takes them close to positions of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Over the past three nights, Palestinians appear to have come too near to these positions, and the IDF said Tuesday it had opened fire towards people who had left the designated route.

The United Nations had warned that the Israeli military’s involvement in securing the areas around the sites could discourage participation or lead to recipients facing reprisals.

How has aid distribution changed and why?

Before GHF arrived in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) were the main distributors of aid in the enclave. Additionally, UNWRA took a leading role in providing education and healthcare services.

But Israel has long had a contentious relationship with UNRWA and the UN at large. This relationship ruptured completely in the aftermath of the October 7 attack.

Israel’s parliament subsequently banned UNRWA from operating in the country, making any UN-led humanitarian efforts extremely difficult.

Both Israel and the US had also accused Hamas of stealing aid distributed by the UN. Hamas has rejected those claims, and humanitarian aid organizations say most of the food aid reaches civilians.

The UN has refused to participate in the new Gaza aid initiative, saying that GHF model violates some basic humanitarian principles. It warned that locating the initial distribution points only in southern and central Gaza could be perceived as encouraging Israel’s publicly stated goal of depopulating northern Gaza.

GHF has said it is working to open new sites, including in northern Gaza, but no such distribution points have yet opened.

What has been happening recently?

There is not enough food for everyone who needs it. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to seek aid from a tiny number of sites – and while a lucky few have been able to secure some relief, for most, the results have been disastrous.

Palestinian authorities have said more than 60 people have been killed by Israeli forces in the past three days near a GHF aid site near the southern city of Rafah.

Establishing exactly what happened at all these incidents is difficult, as Israel prevents international media from entering Gaza.

On Tuesday, nearly 30 people were killed, and dozens wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and Nasser hospital. The Israeli military said its forces opened fire multiple times after identifying “several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated access routes.”

On Monday, three Palestinians were shot dead and dozens wounded as they were on their way to access aid, Palestinian and hospital authorities said. The IDF said that Israeli forces fired warning shots approximately a kilometer (about 1,100 yards) from the aid distribution site.

On Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry, hospital officials and a half-dozen eyewitnesses said the Israeli military was responsible for gunfire that Palestinian officials said killed 31 people.

At the time, the Israeli military said its forces “did not fire at civilians while they were near or within” the aid site, but an Israeli military source acknowledged that Israeli forces fired toward individuals about a kilometer away, before the aid site opened.

GHF said on Sunday that none of the gunfire was in the distribution center itself or the surrounding area. After Tuesday’s shooting, the organization directed questions about shootings near the aid site to the IDF.

“This was an area well beyond our secure distribution site. We recognize the tragic nature of the situation and remain committed to ensuring the safety of all civilians during humanitarian operations at all of our sites,” GHF said in a statement.

What has the reaction been?

There has been widespread international condemnation, particularly from the UN.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday he was “appalled” by the reports of deaths and injuries on Sunday.

“It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” Guterres said in a statement, calling for “an immediate and independent investigation” into the events and “for perpetrators to be held accountable.”

The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, said on Tuesday that Palestinians have been given “the grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available through Israel’s militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism.”

In a post on X, Philippe Lazzarini, executive director of UNRWA, also slammed the new mechanism, saying: “aid distribution has become a death trap. Mass casualties including scores of injured & killed among starving civilians due to gunshots this morning. This is according to reports from international medics on ground.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, last week criticized the new aid mechanism run by GHF, saying the EU does not support “any kind of privatization of the distribution of humanitarian aid.”

The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada have also threatened to take “concrete action,” including targeted sanctions, if Israel does not stop its renewed military offensive and continues to block aid from entering Gaza.