Liberal Lee Jae-myung projected to win South Korea presidency in martial law 'judgment day'

RNZ News

2 days ago

By
Joyce Lee
and
Ju-min Park
, Reuters
Lee Jae-myung, left, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, and his wife Kim Hye-gyeong acknowledge supporters as they await the final results of the presidential election in Seoul on June 4, 2025.
Photo:
AFP / Anthony Wallace
South Korea's liberal party candidate Lee Jae-myung led with more than 85 percent of the votes counted in Tuesday's snap presidential election, six months to the day after he evaded military cordons to vote against a shock martial law decree.
His conservative rival, Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party, conceded the race and congratulated Lee.
Lee's victory stands to usher in a political sea change in Asia's fourth-largest economy, after the backlash against
the martial law brought down Yoon Suk Yeol
, the conservative outsider who narrowly beat Lee in the 2022 election.
Nearly 80 percent of South Korea's 44.39 million eligible voters cast their ballots, the highest turnout for a presidential election in the country since 1997, with Lee terming the polls "judgment day" against Yoon's martial law and the PPP's failure to distance itself from that decision.
Preliminary vote tallies and exit polls by the country's major broadcasters had Lee defeating Kim by comfortable margins.
A joint exit poll by broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS, which has in previous elections mostly been in line with the final results, put Lee on 51.7 percent and Kim on 39.3 percent.
A separate survey by broadcaster JTBC put Lee on 50.6 percent and Kim on 39.4 percent. Channel A also predicted a Lee win by similar margins. Reuters has not independently confirmed the results of the surveys.
The decree and the six months of ensuing turmoil, which saw three different acting presidents and multiple criminal insurrection trials for Yoon and several top officials, marked a stunning political self-destruction for the former leader and effectively handed the presidency to his main rival.
Yoon was
impeached by the Lee-led parliament
, then removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April, less than three years into his five-year term, triggering the snap election that now stands to remake the country's political leadership and foreign policies of a key US ally.
Lee has accused the PPP of having condoned the martial law attempt by not fighting harder to thwart it and even trying to save Yoon's presidency.
Kim was Yoon's labour minister when the former president declared martial law on 3 December.
"I was here on December 3 after martial was declared and December 14 when Yoon was impeached," said Choi Mi-jeong, 55, a science teacher who gathered outside parliament to hear Lee speak after the election. "Now Lee Jae-myung is becoming president. I hope he will become a leader who supports ordinary people, not vested interests, not a small number of riches."
In a brief speech to those supporters, Lee said he would fulfil the duties of the office if he wins as expected.
He also vowed to bring unity to the country, revive the economy, and seek peace with nuclear-armed North Korea.
Official results were expected to be certified by the National Election Commission on Wednesday morning after ballots were sorted and counted by machine, then triple-checked by election officials by hand to verify accuracy.
Just hours later, the inauguration ceremony is planned.
Park Chan-dae, acting leader of Lee's Democratic Party, told KBS that the projections suggested voters rejected the martial law attempt and were hoping for an improvement in their livelihoods.
"I think people made a fiery judgment against the insurrection regime," he said.
The winner must tackle challenges including a society deeply scarred by divisions made more obvious since the attempt at military rule, and an export-heavy economy reeling from unpredictable protectionist moves by the United States, a major trading partner and a security ally.
Both Lee and Kim pledged change for the country, saying a political system and economic model set up during its rise as a budding democracy and industrial power are no longer fit for purpose.
Their proposals for investment in innovation and technology often overlapped, but Lee advocated more equity and help for mid- to low-income families while Kim campaigned on giving businesses more freedom from regulations and labour strife.
Lee is expected to be more conciliatory toward China and North Korea, but has pledged to continue the Yoon-era engagement with Japan.
Kim branded Lee a "dictator" and his Democratic Party a "monster," warning if the former human rights lawyer becomes president, nothing will stop them from working together to amend laws simply because they do not like them.
"The economy has gotten so much worse since December 3, not just for me but I hear that from everybody," Kim Kwang-ma, 81, said. "And we as a people have become so polarised... I wish we could come together so that Korea can develop again."
There were no female candidates running in Tuesday's election for the first time in 18 years.
Despite polls showing wide gaps between young men and women, gender equality was not among the key policy issues put forward during this election, a stark contrast from the 2022 vote.
"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," said Kwon Seo-hyun, 18, a university freshman and first-time voter who went out to the streets for anti-Yoon protests following his martial law.
-Reuters