Wave of anger could sweep liberals to victory in South Korea election
When then-President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law decree plunged South Korea into chaos in December, it plummeted sales at Park Myung-Ja's diner in Jechon and became a turning point for many voters in the town.
The 66-year-old chef and restaurant owner is one face of South Korea's North Chungcheong Province, a swing region that has become even more pivotal at a time of deep political polarization in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
"We need to get furthest away from all that martial law drama to get things back to where they were," Park said at her Korean restaurant two hours south of Seoul, adding that liberal candidate "Lee Jae-myung looks alright for that."
Voters are now looking for the winner of the June 3 snap election to calm the economic and political shocks that have roiled the country since Yoon's Dec. 3 martial law decree led to months of economic downturn and sparked nationwide protests.
Park's North Chungcheong Province is a key battleground for Kim Moon-soo, a candidate for the conservative People Power Party campaigning on deregulation for companies, and liberal Democratic Party frontrunner Lee, who's vowing to bring back stability after months of turmoil.
In swing regions such as North Chungcheong Province, where Jechon is located, the ruling conservative party risks losing a big chunk of its support base with many voters blaming the martial law debacle for weaker private consumption and easing export momentum. Park's business crashed after Yoon's declaration, with some of her biggest customers who are local council officials cancelling dinner reservations in groups of five to 10.
"The first call I got on Dec. 4 was from a regular customer who does his year-end dinner here every year. I asked him why he is cancelling it, and he said — 'don't you watch news?'"
Lee, who defied Yoon's martial law decree, had a 10-percentage point lead over Kim in one of the final opinion polls issued on Tuesday, with 45% of voters trusting him to revive the economy compared with 32% for Kim.
Conservatives have criticized Lee for a series of criminal cases he faces over accusations of election law violations, corruption, and other issues, but they have struggled to unify behind a single candidate and to distance themselves from Yoon.
On Friday, right-winger Kim said voting for Lee would end up "collapsing our economy," hoping to sway voters in small cities such as Jecheon, an inland town of about 130,000 surrounded by mountainous tourist spots, who are looking for a turning point to revive South Korea's fortunes. But the martial law call continues to weigh heavily on conservative chances.
"We definitely had fewer customers, especially from office dinners, after the martial law declaration. It did bite us hard," said Choi, a Chinese restaurant owner in Pangyo, a town south of Seoul. "Lee is someone who will uplift more of us who are not doing so well."
A man votes at a polling station installed at the departures area of the Incheon International Airport on Thursday. |
AFP-JIJI
Consumer sentiment, which dropped by the most in December since the outbreak of COVID-19, recovered to premartial-law levels of 101.8 points in May, on expectations of a fresh stimulus package under a new leader.
The shock move rattled markets and put the South Korean won among the region's worst-performing currencies of the last year, hurt business sentiment even before exporters absorbed the full force of U.S. President Donald Trump's punitive tariff policies.
Now, the strains are setting in, as economic tailwinds from the semiconductor boom and reforms in the capital markets in the past few years are fading.
Whoever wins the June 3 election will have to face an economy that contracted in the first quarter, manage negotiations with Washington to avoid high tariffs, and assuage voters such as Park who are seeing their living standards go backward from elevated grocery bills and weak spending.
South Korea's election campaign has been light on policy and heavy on spectacle after twists and turns involving the main candidates.
"I wish they had taken housing supply and boosting the domestic market more seriously in their pledges," said 59-year-old Jung Soo-hyeon. "But perhaps because it's a snap election, that kind of in-depth consideration seems to be missing — which is a bit disappointing."
Analysts say voters watched economic pledges closely as consumption has been badly hit.
A win for Lee could spur "faster economic growth in the short term," Kim Jin-wook of Citi Research said.
The Democratic Party "would likely be relatively more keen on providing policy and support for the mid-to-low-income bracket," he added.
Both top candidates have pledged to draft a second supplementary budget for the year as soon as the election is over. Lee has also promised vouchers to help local businesses and subsidies for child care, youth, and the elderly.
While Lee has backed away from advocating for universal basic income, some voters including Park, who backed Yoon last time, said they see Lee as most likely to look out for their interests.
"Lee's party seems to be willing to give out more to those who are struggling," Park said, emphasizing that "change" is important.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NHK
8 hours ago
- NHK
North Korean noise broadcasts reportedly not heard in South
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff say Pyongyang's broadcasts of loud noises near the border have not been heard since late Wednesday night. The apparent halt comes just after South Korea suspended loudspeaker broadcasts against the North near the Demilitarized Zone on Wednesday. South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung ordered the suspension as a step to restore trust in inter-Korean relations and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. The North had continued to blare loud noises in multiple areas near the Demilitarized Zone in response to the South's loudspeaker broadcasts. Yonhap News Agency reported that Seoul may go on to take a next step toward restoring the military agreement with Pyongyang designed to ease tensions. The pact was suspended by the administration of former President Yoon Suk-yeol. Pyongyang has defined South Korea as "hostile nation," and refused to show interest in dialogue with Seoul. Attention is focused on how Pyongyang will respond to the conciliatory stance of the new administration in Seoul.


NHK
8 hours ago
- NHK
Japan businesses await new South Korean government moves
Japan-South Korea diplomatic relations have had a big impact on Japanese businesses, which are now keenly awaiting moves by the new South Korean government.

Japan Times
a day ago
- Japan Times
South Korea halts loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts against North Korea
South Korea on Wednesday halted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into North Korea, the defense ministry said, adding it was a bid to "restore trust" under Seoul's new administration. The decision to suspend the broadcasts was "to make good on a promise to restore trust in South-North Korea relations and seek peace on the Korean peninsula," the defense ministry said in a brief statement. A ministry spokesperson said the broadcasts were halted Wednesday afternoon. Ties between the two Koreas deteriorated under the hard-line administration of hawkish ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol. But Yoon was impeached and stripped of office earlier this year over an abortive martial law declaration. After winning last week's snap poll, Seoul's new President Lee Jae-myung pledged to improve ties with Pyongyang. The loudspeakers were turned on in the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas in June last year in response to a barrage of trash-filled balloons flown southward by Pyongyang. North Korea claimed the balloons were a response to activists floating similar missives filled with anti-Kim Jong Un propaganda and U.S. dollar bills northwards. The two Koreas technically remain at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. The anti-North Korea broadcasts infuriate Pyongyang, which has previously threatened artillery strikes against Seoul's loudspeaker units. South Korea's resumption of its broadcasts last year was the first time the tactic had been used in six years. They typically consist of blaring K-pop songs and news reports into North Korea. In response, North Korea turned on its own propaganda broadcasts, sending strange and unsettling noises into the South at all hours, prompting complaints from border residents. On Ganghwa island, which is very close to the North, villager Ahn Hyo-cheol said that the North Korean noises had "not subsided at all" by Wednesday afternoon. "While I don't have high hopes for how North Korea might change, I think the government's decision to halt loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North is the right move," he said. Ganghwa county councilor Park Heung-yeol said the move by Seoul was "long overdue." "Halting the loudspeaker broadcasts should not be the end — we must also work to restore inter-Korean communication channels and initiate dialogue to stop the North's broadcasts targeting the South," Park added. Lee, who took office the day after last week's election, has vowed to improve ties with the North through dialogue. "No matter how costly, peace is better than war," he said after he was elected. North Korea has not commented on Lee's election except for a brief news report informing its public of his win. Lee comes to power with his party already holding a parliamentary majority — secure for the next three years — meaning he is likely to be able to get his legislative agenda done. The halt to loudspeaker broadcasts "is a clear signal from Lee that he intends to deliver on his campaign promise to improve ties with the North and that he has no hostile intent toward it," said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification. "We can expect Lee to take further steps to further this stance, such as attempting to revive a military agreement with the North that was scrapped last year," Hong said. "The North could reciprocate by halting its own noise campaign targeting South Koreans living on border-area islands."