By Josh Smith SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung is projected to win next week's snap presidential election, a result that could reorient a major U.S. ally on policies ranging from China to nuclear weapons and North Korea.

A South Korean navy plane crashed during a training flight on Thursday, with the fates of four people on board unknown, military officials said. The P-3C patrol plane left its base in the southeastern coastal city of Pohang at 1.43 p.m. local time, but later crashed due to unknown reasons, the navy said.