South Korea: Lee Jae-myung wins presidential election – DW – 06/04/2025
Skip next section Who are the main candidates?
06/02/2025
June 2, 2025 Who are the main candidates?
The two front runners are Lee Jae-myung from the opposition left-leaning Democratic Party and the conservative People Power Party's Kim Moon Soo.
Frontrunner Lee Jae-myung
But Lee Jae-myung, 60, has emerged as the clear leader in opinion surveys released in recent weeks.
Lee, a former mayor and governor, most recently served as a lawmaker after narrowly losing to impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol in the 2022 election.
But Lee faces ongoing legal cases and investigations for corruption. Before the election, the Seoul High Court postponed a retrial against him on election law charges until after the June 3 vote.
In his final campaign speeches on Monday, Lee promised to revitalize the economy, reduce inequality and ease national divisions hardened by Yoon's impeachment.
He argued that a win by Kim would allow Yoon's "rebellion forces" to return.
That would mean "the destruction of democracy, the deprival of people's human rights, the normalization of martial law and our country's downfall into a backward, third-world nation," Lee said.
Lee Jae-myung has been leading in opinion polls Image: Kwak Kyung-keun/Matrix Images/IMAGO
Conservative candidate Kim Moon Soo
Lee's main opponent is Kim Moon Soo, from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) of impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol.
He has previously served as a governor of South Korea's Gyeonggi province and was a member of the National Assembly for three terms.
On the campaign trail, Kim, 73, has sought to distance himself from ousted president Yoon.
But Kim was appointed labor minister by Yoon in 2024 and was widely seen as part of the disgraced leader's inner circle.
On the campaign trail on Monday, Kim warned that a Lee win would allow him to wield excessive power, launch political retaliation against opponents and legislate laws to protect him from various legal troubles.
Lee's Democratic Party already holds a parliamentary majority.
Lee "is now trying to seize all power in South Korea and establish a Hitler-like dictatorship," Kim told a rally.
Kim is trailing in polls by some 10 percentage points behind Lee. He was unable to convince the third-place candidate to merge forces and make the election competitive.
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