A South Korean student has been elected president of the Oxford Union, a students’ debating society at the University of Oxford.

Lee Seung-yoon, a sophomore studying politics, philosophy, and economics, defeated British candidates in the election.

He is the first Korean student to head the students’ organization in Oxford’s 800-year history.

The Oxford Union has 12-thousand members and about 70 percent are Oxford students. Lee will serve a term of nine months.