S. Korea's leader willing to visit North, talk to US, China

Moon has been under criticism from conservatives who view him as soft on North Korea and worry that his election victory might benefit North Korea and cause strained relations with the United States.

The final opinion surveys released last week showed Moon, the Democratic Party candidate, had about a 20 percentage-point lead over his two main rivals - a centrist and a conservative. With 65 percent of the votes counted, he had 39.6 percent.

The conservative Hong had pitched himself as a "strongman, " described the election as a war between ideologies and questioned Moon's patriotism. A separate statement from Moon's Democratic Party said he was briefed on the status of the North Korean military and South Korea's military readiness.

Moon is expected to be sworn in for a five-year term on Wednesday.

He vowed to give priority to tackling North Korea's nuclear programs. "None of these things have changed", said James Kim, an worldwide relations expert at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

Korean news agency Yonhap put the turnout at 75 percent of 42.5 million registered voters, citing the National Election Commission an hour before the polling stations closed. However, the approach ultimately failed to halt North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Daniel Russel, Washington's former top diplomat for Asia, told Reuters the differences between Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump would mean inevitable friction, but "don't portend a crisis or failure" for relations. "We need a leader who could restore the people's trust in government that had been damaged by Park's scandal".

"Politics were turbulent (in the past several months), but our people showed greatness", Moon said.

The new South Korean leader pledged to further strengthen the country's relationship with Washington and promised to solve the issue of the Terminal-High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deployed by the United States in South Korea through dialogue with both Washington and Beijing.

Park is awaiting trial over corruption for offering governmental favors to top businessmen-including Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong-who allegedly bribed her secret confidante, Choi Soon-Sil. Frustration over widening inequality in wealth and opportunities fueled anger over Park's scandal, which exposed the cozy and corrupt ties between regulators and powerful family-oriented conglomerates, known as chaebols, that have endured for decades.

During the campaign, Moon advocated for engagement with North Korea - particularly on the economic front - as the best method to work towards a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

Kim Sun-Chul, 59, said he voted for Moon because "this country needs to restore democracy which has been so undermined by the Park government".

Moon's pick for National Intelligence Service chief is Suh Hoon, a longtime intelligence official Moon said would be the right man to push reforms at NIS, which has always been accused of meddling in domestic politics.

Earlier this month, President Trump said that he "absolutely" would meet with North Korea's Kim Jong Un under the right circumstances.