South Korea Election Results: Who is Lee Jae-myung, the presidential frontrunner?
South Korea will hold the final voting in a snap presidential election o June 3. Millions will vote to choose Yoon Suk Yeol's successor after the conservative was ousted over his imposition of martial law late last year.
South Koreans overseas were allowed to vote early from May 20 to 25, BBC reported. South Korea election results are expected to come in after polls close — by the evening of June 3. The winner will likely be known in the early hours of the following day, June 4.
Even though there are six candidates to choose from, the main contenders are Lee Jae-myung of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DP), and Kim Moon-soo of the governing conservative People Power Party (PPP).
According to reports, Lee Jae-myung, a human rights lawyer-turned-politician, is the clear frontrunner.
Surveys suggested liberal Lee Jae-Myung, 61, is heavily favored to win Tuesday's snap election, riding on a wave of public disappointment of Yoon's martial law debacle in December.
Lee Jae-myung, for his part, has repeatedly questioned Kim Moon Soo's ties with Yoon.
For the main conservative candidate, Kim Moon Soo, observers say his refusal to directly criticise Yoon made it difficult for him to narrow the gap with Lee, the Associated Press reported.
In three Gallup Korea surveys released last week, 46% to 49% of respondents picked Lee as their choice for the next president, giving him a comfortable lead over Kim with 35% to 37%.
Lee's rise comes as conservatives struggle to win back public confidence in the wake of Yoon's martial law decree that plunged the country into turmoil.
Lee represents the main liberal Democratic Party. It will be Lee's third bid to run for president. He narrowly lost the 2022 election to Yoon. In 2017, Lee ranked third in a Democratic Party primary.
He had spearheaded the opposition-controlled parliament's impeachment of Yoon over the imposition of martial law in December, before the Constitutional Court formally dismissed the latter in April.
Yoon's dismissal prompted an early presidential election on June 3 to find a new president.
According to the Associated Press, Lee has long established an image as an anti-establishment figure who can eliminate deep-rooted inequality and corruption in South Korea.
However, his critics view him as a populist who relies on stoking divisions and demonising opponents and worry his rule would likely further polarise the country.
Lee's life and works: In 1992, Lee married his wife Kim Hye-kyung, with whom he has two children. He worked as a human rights lawyer for almost two decades before entering politics in 2005. He had joined the social-liberal Uri Party -- a predecessor of the Democratic Party of Korea and the ruling party at the time.
Lee previously served as the governor of South Korea's most populous province, Gyeonggi province, and the mayor of Seongnam city.
Cases against Lee: Lee currently faces five trials for corruption and other criminal charges. If he becomes president, those trials will likely stop as he will enjoy special presidential immunity from most criminal charges.
Lee's political career was reportedly marred by a series of scandals – including a drink driving incident in 2004, disputes with relatives in the late 2010s and allegations of an extramarital affair that emerged in 2018, BBC reported.
Lee's foreign policy: The outcome of the 2025 South Korea election could reorient its approach towards North Korea. Accoridng to reports, Lee had earlier called for healing badly frayed ties with North Korea, saying peace can drive South Korea's economic growth.
Lee promised to ease tensions with North Korea if elected, including by restoring a military hotline, and committed to maintaining the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula, Aljazeera reported.
He also underscored the importance of a trilateral South Korea-US-Japan security partnership, saying it is crucial to maintain South Korea's alliance with the US and pursue security cooperation with Japan.
Recently, Lee said that he thinks the US would pursue better ties with North Korea as a way to contain China and that such a stance would provide South Korea with diplomatic room to restore ties with the North.
He has, however, pledged to prioritise 'national interests' and said there's 'no need to unnecessarily antagonise China or Russia', reports claimed.
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