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

"I want to thank the people who have defended me from numerous negative campaigns," Lee told reporters Wednesday morning after voting in Seoul. "This time, we have to change the government without fail. To do so, all the people should take part in the voting."

Analysts say the independent counsel investigation will hound Lee after the election as he would be the country's first president-elect to undergo a criminal probe. By South Korean law, a president-elect can be prosecuted but receives immunity from most criminal lawsuits after inauguration.

Unlike previous elections dominated by issues like security policy with rival North Korea or relations with the United States, this year voters were focused on economic matters due to concern over sky-high real estate prices, soaring unemployment and a widening gap between rich and poor.

Nicknamed "The Bulldozer" for his can-do business acumen, Lee's support has been bolstered due to dissatisfaction over the five-year term of liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, who was constitutionally barred from seeking re-election.

In 2002, Roh was elected after pledging not to "kowtow" to the US while also continuing the rapprochement with the North fostered by his predecessor and fellow liberal Kim Dae-jung, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his "sunshine" policy of engagement with Pyongyang.

Lee has made the economy central to his campaign, pledging to raise annual growth to 7 percent, double the country's per capita income to $40,000 and lift South Korea to among the world's top seven economies - known as his "747" pledge.

Lee first gained prominence as head of Hyundai's construction unit that symbolized South Korea's meteoric economic rise in the 1960-70s. As Seoul mayor from 2002-2006, he made his mark by opening up a long-paved-over stream to create a new landmark in the capital that also earned him environmental credibility.

Lee's march to the presidency hit a bump this week when a video was released by his liberal rivals showing him saying in 2000 that he founded a firm implicated in fraud. Although he had acknowledged the same in printed interviews, the video put the words directly into his mouth.

The case revolves around a Korean-American former business associate of Lee's who faces charges for stock manipulation, embezzlement and forgery after his extradition from the US, where he allegedly fled with millions of dollars.

Lee has said the taped comments were taken out of context and denied the allegations.

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