South Korea election: Tensions with Pyongyang a key factor for voters in border areas
South Koreans will head to the polls tomorrow to pick their next president, with the race coming down to two main contenders. A recent Gallup survey showed Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung leading with nearly 50% support, while his main rival, Mr Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party, has managed to close the gap. Meanwhile, tensions between South and North Korea could be a key factor for some voters, especially in the border areas. People living close to the heavily-guarded demilitarised zone have backed conservative candidates for decades. Lim Yun Suk reports from Gangwon province.
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Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Young South Korean women help propel liberal candidate Lee to victory
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, cheer during an election campaign rally at a park in Seoul, South Korea, May 28, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, cheer during an election campaign rally at a park in Seoul, South Korea, May 28, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of South Korea's Democratic Party, gather on the day of the presidential election, outside of National Assembly, in Seoul, South Korea, June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of South Korea's Democratic Party, cheer during an election campaign rally in Seoul, South Korea, June 2, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo SEOUL - Young women in South Korea voted in droves to help new liberal President Lee Jae-myung win Tuesday's election, reflecting the entrenched gender divide over politics in the country where more young men backed conservative candidates. Around 58% of women voters in their 20s and 57% in their 30s voted for Lee of the Democratic Party, a joint exit poll by three broadcasters showed, mirroring the 2022 presidential election, while a majority of their male peers picked Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party and Lee Jun-seok, another conservative candidate. Young women led the charge against former President Yoon Suk-yeol who was ousted in April by the Supreme Court after being impeached over his short-lived imposition of martial law, triggering the snap election. They outnumbered their male peers in massive anti-Yoon protests as they waved K-pop light sticks while braving near sub-zero temperatures in the winter. "I voted for Lee Jae-myung in part because I was a little nervous about candidate Kim Moon-soo climbing in polls towards the end of the election," said Moon Song-hee, a 32-year-old female voter in Seoul. Kim and his party had failed to distance themselves from Yoon, driving away people like her who were protesting outside parliament soon after the December 3 martial law declaration, she said. The women-led "revolution" is a starting point for making progress on gender equality that was reversed under Yoon, the Korea Women's Association United said in a statement. "This is not a simple regime change, but a historical achievement made by the fierce struggle of the people to restore the gender-equal democracy destroyed by the Yoon Suk Yeol regime," the group said in a statement. The issue of gender inequality has become a lightning rod in the country. South Korea has the worst gender pay gap in the OECD, with women earning about two-thirds of the income of men. Efforts to redress such inequalities have triggered a backlash among young men, amid perceptions of reverse discrimination, including disgruntlement at the compulsory military service that is not required for women, some experts say. Former leader Yoon tapped into anti-feminist sentiment by vowing to abolish the gender equality ministry and courted young male voters in the last election in 2022, losing a majority of young women's votes to Lee. The ministry has outlived Yoon, though without a minister. "I was baffled by the promise to abolish the gender equality ministry. To be honest, I didn't really think that women were on their minds for the past three years," she said after voting for Lee for the second time. Lee has vowed to expand the role of the gender equality ministry and strengthen punishment for violence against women. "Young people were driven to extreme competition to the point of fighting between men and women," Lee said as he was sworn in as president on Wednesday, blaming a lack of opportunities and stiff competition for driving a wedge between the genders. However, Lee has not been a vocal supporter of anti-discrimination legislation and when the Democratic Party first revealed his policies, a lack of gender issues drew criticism. The Korea Women's Political Network, an activist group, contended that Lee was ignoring gender equality out of fear it would hurt him at the polls, and after his victory, urged him to adopt some of Kwon's commitments. Kwon Seo-hyun, an 18-year-old freshman at Sookmyung Women's University said she took part in anti-Yoon protests following his martial law, but voted for Kwon Young-kook, the minor Democratic Labor Party's candidate. Kwon has called himself a feminist and was the only candidate who vowed to enact anti-discrimination laws. "One thing I am a bit frustrated about with mainstream candidates whether Lee Jae-myung or other conservative candidates is they lack policy on women or minority groups," she said. Gender equality was not among the key policy issues put forward during this election, a stark contrast from the 2022 vote. There were also no female candidates running in a presidential election for the first time in 18 years. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
White House calls South Korea election 'fair', expresses concern about Chinese influence
WASHINGTON: The White House said on Tuesday (Jun 3) that South Korea's election, which saw liberal party candidate Lee Jae-myung win the presidency, was fair, but it expressed concern about Chinese interference. "The US-ROK Alliance remains ironclad. While South Korea had a free and fair election, the United States remains concerned and opposed to Chinese interference and influence in democracies around the world," a White House official said in an emailed response to a Reuters request for comment made at an earlier White House briefing. "ROK" refers to the Republic of Korea. The official did not elaborate on the reference to alleged Chinese interference or connect it directly to the South Korean election. However, US President Donald Trump's right-wing allies have taken aim at Lee, who has spoken of the need to balance Seoul's relations with China and the United States. Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has jockeyed her way up from online agitator to self-appointed Trump adviser, posted "RIP South Korea" on X on Tuesday after Lee's victory became clear. "The communists have taken over Korea and won the Presidential election today," she wrote. "This is terrible," she added. Loomer has shown herself to be highly influential: Several high-ranking White House officials were fired this year after she presented Trump with a list of national security staffers she perceived to be disloyal. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement congratulating Lee, and like the White House, spoke about the two countries' "ironclad" alliance. He made no mention of concerns about China. "The United States and the Republic of Korea share an ironclad commitment to the Alliance grounded in our Mutual Defense Treaty, shared values, and deep economic ties," Rubio said. "We are also modernising the Alliance to meet the demands of today's strategic environment and address new economic challenges." Rubio also said the United States would continue to deepen trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan, "to bolster regional security, enhance economic resilience, and defend our shared democratic principles." CHINA POLICIES UNDER SCRUTINY As South Korea's ousted former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, fought for his political life earlier this year, he raised unsubstantiated claims about possible fraud in South Korea's elections as one reason for his announcement of a martial law decree that had prompted his ouster. His backers adopted "Stop the Steal" slogans and expressed hopes that Trump would intervene to help, but that never came. "Most of the 'election fraud' allegations I've seen reek of conspiracy theories and paranoia," said Evans Revere, former US Deputy Ambassador for East Asian Affairs. "It's unfortunate that a White House spokesperson would allude to these, especially since Lee's margin of victory was substantial and his conservative opponent quickly and unhesitatingly conceded his loss." Last week, without providing evidence, Trump ally Mike Flynn, a retired general who briefly served as the president's national security adviser during his first term, referred in a post on X to "signs of fraud" in the South Korea election, and said a fraudulent outcome would only benefit the Chinese Communist Party. Another Trump ally, Steve Bannon, explored a similar theme of Chinese election interference on his WarRoom channel last week. Lee's past comments about China, including his statement that a conflict over Taiwan would have nothing to do with South Korea, have provided fodder for those in the US government inclined to mistrust him, said Revere. His policy approach on China, Taiwan, Russia, Japan, and alliance- and trade-related concerns will be under close scrutiny in Washington and could lead to "differences" between the two allies, he added.
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Snap Insight: South Korea's Lee Jae-myung has won the presidency. Now comes the hard part
SINGAPORE: Exactly six months ago, hundreds of ordinary citizens flocked to the National Assembly to prevent then president Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law order. On Wednesday (Jun 4), South Koreans woke up to a new president – Lee Jae-myung from the progressive Democratic Party. He won the country's highest-turnout election in nearly three decades in polls held on Tuesday. Mr Lee, a former child factory worker turned human rights lawyer turned politician, secured 49.4 per cent of the vote, defeating conservative candidate Kim Moon-soo by more than 8 percentage points. The voter turnout of 79.4 per cent was the highest since 1997. His victory, despite ongoing criminal trials for charges including bribery and corruption, reflects the strong public disapproval of the Yoon administration's martial law declaration and its handling of the aftermath. It also marks a tremendous comeback for Mr Lee, who lost the 2022 election to Yoon by a razor-thin 0.7 percentage point. In his victory speech on Wednesday morning, Mr Lee called for national unity and restoration of democracy, and vowed to become a leader for every Korean and to improve the lives of ordinary people. This is a welcome message, as intense political polarisation has divided the Korean society and stifled the functioning of government in recent years. Mr Lee faces a tough road ahead, however, as he inherits a set of internal and external challenges. ECONOMIC GROWTH AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES The most pressing task for Mr Lee is to boost the sluggish Korean economy. Just last week, the Bank of Korea slashed its 2025 economic growth forecast to a meagre 0.8 per cent, down from 1.5 per cent in February. At the same time, inflation remains above 2 per cent, which implies that real growth has been negative, while housing prices in Seoul have increased beyond what most people can afford. Mr Lee has already promised a major stimulus package of 35 trillion won (US$25 billion), but an expansive fiscal policy of this sort can only be a short-term measure. What is required is fundamental reform that tackles structural issues – declining productivity, ageing society and the world's lowest fertility rate, medical and pension reforms, controlling housing prices and upskilling the population for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. It calls for the re-writing of a social contract that deals with how to generate and distribute wealth in a productive, fair and equitable manner. Successive Korean administrations have largely avoided dealing with these issues in the past, as structural reforms would cause controversy and prove unpopular. Mr Lee must show political courage and lead on structural reforms, not only to rejuvenate the ailing Korean economy, but to prevent deeper social fracture in the years ahead. FOREIGN POLICY CHALLENGES Mr Lee's foreign policy will be tested early. On North Korea, he favours engagement and negotiation, while simultaneously recognising the importance and utility of military deterrence. With a progressive administration in South Korea once again in place, along with United States President Donald Trump and Pyongyang's Kim Jong Un – the configuration behind the Singapore and Hanoi summits in 2018 and 2019 – this raises the possibility of more diplomatic activities. While conditions have changed, especially with North Korea's recent military partnership with Russia, both Mr Trump and Mr Kim appear interested in giving negotiation another shot. The Lee administration will seek to play a more active and conducive role in making progress on the North Korea issue. On the US-China rivalry, the Lee administration will come under greater pressure to enhance its cooperation with Washington. Mr Lee has pledged to enhance the alliance with the US and further develop the US-Japan-South Korea trilateral. At the same time, he has repeatedly said that South Korea must not be drawn into any conflict between the US and China, including over Taiwan. He calls this 'pragmatic' diplomacy serving South Korea's national interests. This balancing act is tricky. Mr Lee must show deft diplomatic skills if he is to navigate turbulent external circumstances and make progress on the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula. Otherwise, his pragmatic diplomacy could end up weakening the alliance with the US or degenerating South Korea to become a pawn in the great power strategic game. REVIVAL OR DECLINE OF KOREAN DEMOCRACY? With Mr Lee's victory, the Democratic Party will control the legislature and the executive. As president, Mr Lee can appoint three judges on the Constitutional Court, meaning progressive-leaning judges will dominate that court. In addition, Mr Lee might also seek to expand the number of Supreme Court judges, as a way to appoint more progressive judges on the supreme court. This would consolidate his power and control of all branches of government. The conservatives are deeply concerned about this situation and believe that Mr Lee will use his power to avoid his criminal investigation and charges, thereby weakening Korean democracy. The progressives vehemently disagree and believe that the conservative People Power Party must be dissolved for its role in supporting or defending Yoon's martial law. If both sides maintain their views, Korean politics will continue to suffer from political polarisation and wrangling. Mr Lee's political skills and leadership will be tested and assessed on how Korean democracy consolidates during his presidency. One hopes that he will rise above his personal or narrow group interests and promote the fundamental democratic principle of checks and balances across different branches of government.
