From escaping death to becoming president: All about South Korea's new president Lee Jae-Myung
Human rights lawyer and Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-Myung has won the popular vote and is all set to become the next president of South Korea.
With the voter percentage nearing 80 per cent, the highest it has been in 28 years, South Koreans chose their next president after six months of political turmoil triggered by the country's shortest period of martial law.
ALSO READ | South Korea election 2025 results: Lee Jae-Myung set to be president as Kim Moon-soo concedes defeat
Addressing supporters in Seoul, Lee thanked the people for their support and vowed to work towards the unification of the country through dialogue with North Korea. He also vowed to ensure another military coup or repeat of the martial law crisis does not take place.
With 93 percent of the votes in, Democratic Party Lee Jae-Myung is set to be president with 48.67 percent of the vote. He will be sworn in as the next president on Wednesday and begin his term immediately.
People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo, who conceded defeat, lost the election with a total of 42.24 percent votes.
Lee Jae-Myung, who was already leading in the opinion polls ahead of the vote, was also projected to win based on the exit polls conducted by South Korean media.
As per KBS, Lee Jae-myung garnered 51.7 per cent of the voters, which is 12.4 points higher than the People Power Party's Kim Moon-soo, who stood at 39 per cent.
Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok stood at 7.7 per cent of votes in the exit polls.
From escaping death last year to going viral for climbing the walls of the National Assembly during martial law, the 61-year-old human rights lawyer is a key figure in South Korean politics in the past few years.
Ahead of his presidential bid, Lee served as the mayor of Seongnam in South Seoul for eight years. After this, he went on to serve as the governor of Gyeonggi province for three years.
In 2022, the Democratic Party candidate lost the presidential vote to PPP candidate Yoon Suk-Yeol by a razor-thin margin. However, despite this loss, Lee went on to serve as a the leader of the South Korean opposition and became an influential figure in Korean politics.
The former child labourer is known for his inspirational rags-to-riches story. With his career in politics, Lee has been criticised many times for his 'populist' ideas which aim to make South Korea a progressive society and to battle key issues such as the country's deep-seated economic inequality, corruption and the gender-pay gap.
In 2024, the opposition leader was stabbed in the neck with a seven-inch-long knife during a visit to Busan. The DP leader was airlifted to Seoul National University Hospital for treatment. As per officials, the suspect approached Lee under the pretext of an autograph and proceeded to stab the politician.
During the martial law crisis in South Korea, former President Yoon Suk-Yeol's ordered the military to block the entry to the National Assembly. However, several politicians, incluidng Lee Jae-myung defied all odds to be present for the vote against the imposition of martial law.
The opposition leader started a livestream on YouTube as he attempted to climb the walls of the National Assembly. Lee went viral for his effort to reach to parliament, where the National Assembly then voted for the removal of martial law.
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New president brings hopes for better ties with China, North Korea With the election over, Lee's administration now needs to face challenges on many fronts, not least in the form of US trade tariffs and tense relationships with immediate neighbours North Korea, China and Japan. It is widely anticipated that Lee's administration will be more pro-China than previous administrations, Hyobin Lee told DW. Beijing is Seoul's most important trade partner, and South Korea is also deeply concerned about the reliability of the present US administration when it comes to both security and trade. Closer ties with Beijing may also help mitigate the threat posed by North Korea, still a close ally of China. On the campaign trail, Lee indicated that he intends to rebuild bridges with Pyongyang, although that may be even more difficult now due to new security and trade ties between North Korea and Russia. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un may even choose to deliberately and publicly snub any approach from Lee. Will Lee rule without checks and balances? And back on the home front, even among those South Koreans who took to the streets to protest Yoon's declaration of martial law, there is now concern that too much power is concentrated in the hands of the Democratic Party and its leader. Lee and his allies control 190 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly, making his camp "able to drive national policy in any direction it chooses, without effective opposition," says Seoul-based professor Hyobin. "The lack of checks and balances could potentially put our democracy at risk," she added. South Korea at a crossroads Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, shares those concerns. He sees Lee's victory as a "watershed moment in South Korean politics," and warns that Lee's control of the executive branch and his large legislative majority give him vast amounts of power. "South Korea could see institutional reforms and greater policy coherence in response to economic, foreign policy and democratic challenges," he suggested. "Or the country could face more political retribution, increasing polarization and counterproductive changes in governance." Lee still in legal trouble, plans judicial reform Park Jung-won, a professor of law at Dankook University, points out that President Lee did not win more than 50% of the votes, even given the handicaps that his opponents faced. Lee has been embroiled in at least nine legal cases, most involving allegations of bribery, the illegal transfer of funds to North Korea and making false statements during election campaigns. In fact, he would not have been able to run for president if an appeal in one of the cases had gone ahead as planned. But Lee successfully petitioned the courts to delay the case until after the election on the grounds that it would interfere with a fair vote. Park points out that the new government is now proposing legislative changes that would make it impossible for the case to go ahead in the future. The DP also stated during the campaign that if elected it would seek to dissolve its main political adversary, the People Power Party, because it was headed by Yoon when he declared martial law. Backlash against Lee likely Actions that are perceived as hindering fair political processes will not go down well with the electorate, Park said. "I anticipate there will be a honeymoon period for Lee and his new government, but the conservative media will not hesitate to criticize Lee if they feel he is going too far, and that could lead to a serious backlash from the public," he added. Yet, Easley is hopeful that Lee will find the political equilibrium required to move on from the monthslong political crisis. "Lee's electoral mandate is not for a progressive revolution but for pragmatic problem-solving," he said. "He has proved to be a political survivor, after legal scandals, questionable opposition tactics and even threats to his life." Now, Easley said, the new president needs to "approach government not only with pragmatism for the national interest, but also with humility for social unity."
