Park Geun-hye (L), presidential candidate of conservative and right wing ruling Saenuri Party, attends her campaign in Seoul Dec 18, 2012. Park is the daughter of former military dictator Park Chung-hee. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - Park Geun-hye of South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party is poised to win the tightly contested presidential election Wednesday and become the first female leader of the country, local media reported.

Park, the 60-year-old daughter of South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee, is sure to beat her liberal rival, Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party, according to broadcasters KBS and SBS.

With a little less than 36.1 percent of the votes counted as of 9:11 pm local time, Park won 52.8 percent of the votes, compared to Moon with 46.9 percent.

Voter turnout was estimated at 75.8 percent, the highest in a decade.

Election officials count the ballots of the presidential election in Seoul, on Dec 19, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]