South Korea’s main conservative candidate Kim Moon Soo has conceded defeat in the presidential election. Kim, the candidate of the People Power Party, told a news conference early Wednesday that he “humbly accepts (the) people’s choice” and congratulates his liberal rival Lee Jae-myung for winning the election.

Both Lee and conservative Kim pledged change for a country deeply scarred by a shock martial law briefly imposed by former leader Yoon Suk Yeol.

Kim Moon-soo, presidential candidate of the conservative People Power Party conceded to rival Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party early Wednesday.