(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-19 20:07

SEOUL, South Korea - Exit polls showed Lee Myung-bak winning South Korea's presidential election by a landslide Wednesday, as voters overlooked fraud allegations in hope the former Hyundai CEO will revive the economy.

Presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak, left, of opposition Grand National Party, and his wife Kim Yoon-ok are accompanied by South Korean philosopher Kim Yong-ok, right, upon arrival at a polling station for their voting in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007. [Agencies]

Lee of the conservative Grand National Party received 50.3 percent of the vote, according to an exit poll sponsored jointly by TV stations KBS and MBC.

The next closest candidate, liberal Chung Dong-young, had 26 percent, and independent Lee Hoi-chang was third with 13.5 percent.

The poll of 70,000 people had a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point.

The results were similar to an exit poll by TV station SBS that had Lee winning with 51.3 percent of the vote. YTN news channel's exit poll put Lee on top with 49 percent.

Lee, a former Seoul mayor, has led the race for months. He has pledged to take a more critical view of Seoul's engagement with North Korea and seek closer US ties. Efforts to end North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions stand at a critical juncture, with the country set to disclose all its programs for eventual dismantlement by a year-end deadline.

Just days before the vote, the parliament voted to authorize an independent counsel investigation into Lee in a stock manipulation case where prosecutors had already cleared him of wrongdoing. The counsel is to complete the probe before the Feb. 25 inauguration, and Lee has said he would step aside from the presidency if found at fault.

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