Businessman Lee coasts to S.Korea poll victory

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) - Right-wing businessman Lee Myung-bak overcame doubts about his ethics to win South Korea's presidential election by a landslide on Wednesday with promises to make voters better off and to stand up to North Korea.

Lee's wide margin of victory put to rest concerns in his camp that a fresh probe into allegations of fraud might deter voters.

"I will bring an economy that is now in crisis back to life," Lee told cheering supporters.

A widely respected exit poll by KBS TV and MBC TV stations gave Lee 50.3 percent of the vote, in line with the huge lead he has had in opinion ratings throughout the campaign.

His main rival, left-of-centre Chung Dong-young, conceded defeat 3-½ hours after voting ended.

And outgoing President Roh Moo-hyun congratulated Lee who, with 82 percent of the official counting completed, had 47.8 percent of the vote. Media reports said many of the ballots still to be counted were from Lee strongholds.

The official tally so far gives Chung just 27 percent -- the largest gap by far since democratic elections began 20 years ago.

"The issue was the economy. Nothing else really mattered this time," said office worker Han Jae-kwang.