Latest news with #politicalPolarization
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
South Korea's new ‘president for all' inherits a deeply divided nation
When Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung emerged victorious early on Wednesday in South Korea 's snap presidential election, elation swept through his supporters massed outside the National Assembly. Strobe lights lit the night sky, celebratory music thundered from speakers and the crowd erupted into cheers and embraces – some dissolving into tears of relief. Just a few hundred metres away, however, the atmosphere outside the People Power Party's (PPP) headquarters could not have been more different. There, a smaller group of far-right demonstrators clashed with police, their shouts of 'rigged elections' and 'resist the results' ringing out into the night. Some visibly shook with fury. 'The PPP has surrendered to a rigged election. I can't believe they've sold off the country,' said a 40-year-old Seoul resident who voted for PPP candidate Kim Moon-soo. This polarisation mirrors a deeper societal schism that now runs through South Korea's families, workplaces and online communities. 'When I told my parents I voted for Lee Jae-myung, they called me the shame of Busan,' said Kim Ha-ru, a 20-year-old student. The port city, South Korea's second largest, has long been a conservative stronghold. 'I told them they were backing a party that tried to stage a coup. I can't understand them at all.'
Reuters
01-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Wave of anger could sweep liberals to victory in South Korea election
JECHEON, South Korea, June 2 (Reuters) - When then-President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law decree plunged South Korea into chaos, 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 polarisation 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 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 December 3 martial law decree led to months of economic downturn and sparked nationwide protests. Park's Chungcheong Province is a key battleground for Kim Moon-soo, candidate for the conservative People Power Party campaigning on deregulations 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 vote 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 to 32% for Kim. Conservatives have criticised 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." Consumer sentiment, which dropped by the most since the outbreak of COVID-19 in December, recovered to pre-martial-law levels of 101.8 in May, on expectations of a fresh stimulus package under a new leader. The shock move rattled markets and put the 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 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 backwards 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. While 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 childcare, 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. ($1 = 1,376.1000 won)
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wave of anger could sweep liberals to victory in South Korea election
By Cynthia Kim JECHEON, South Korea (Reuters) - When then-President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law decree plunged South Korea into chaos, 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 polarisation 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 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 December 3 martial law decree led to months of economic downturn and sparked nationwide protests. Park's Chungcheong Province is a key battleground for Kim Moon-soo, candidate for the conservative People Power Party campaigning on deregulations 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 vote 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 to 32% for Kim. Conservatives have criticised 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." HEAVY ON SPECTACLE Consumer sentiment, which dropped by the most since the outbreak of COVID-19 in December, recovered to pre-martial-law levels of 101.8 in May, on expectations of a fresh stimulus package under a new leader. The shock move rattled markets and put the 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 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 backwards 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. While 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 childcare, 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. ($1 = 1,376.1000 won) (Additional reporting by Yeonbin Park; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Margaret Atwood says she cannot remember another time ‘when words themselves have felt under such threat'
Margaret Atwood has said she cannot remember another point in her lifetime 'when words themselves have felt under such threat'. 'Words are our earliest human technology, like water they appear insubstantial, but like water they can generate tremendous power' the 85-year-old novelist said in her acceptance speech for the freedom to publish prize at the British Book awards. 'Political and religious polarisation, which appeared to be on the wane for parts of the 20th century, has increased alarmingly in the past decade,' she added. 'The world feels to me more like the 1930s and 40s at present than it has in the intervening 80 years.' The British Book awards, colloquially known as the Nibbies, are a set of prizes for authors, illustrators and book industry professionals run by the publishing trade magazine, The Bookseller. Other significant awards presented at the award ceremony were author of the year, which went to Percival Everett for his novel James and overall book of the year, which went to Patriot by Alexei Navalny, accepted on his behalf by his widow Yulia Navalnaya. 'Receiving this award, from across the book community is a powerful recognition of the strength of Alexei's voice,' Navalnaya said. 'It tells us that truth still matters, that integrity matters, that words can break through even the hardest walls and reach hearts everywhere.' Though Atwood did not attend the ceremony in London, she recorded a video acceptance speech to be shown when she was announced winner of the freedom to publish award, which is supported by freedom of expression campaign organisation Index on Censorship and was established in 2022 to 'highlight the growing threats to writers, publishers and booksellers, and to amplify those who fight back'. Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion The Canadian writer began her speech by saying that she was 'more than honoured' to be receiving the award, though 'a little puzzled'. 'Unlike so many writers, publishers and booksellers, both in the past and today, I have never been imprisoned – though I may have to revise that statistic if I attempt to cross into the United States in the near future,' she said. 'I have worked as a writer and in my youth in small press publishing for 60 odd years,' the author of The Handmaid's Tale went on to say. 'Those years included the Soviet Union, when samizdat was a dangerous method of publishing. Hand-produced manuscripts were secretly circulated and bad luck for you if you were caught. They've also included the recent spate of censorship and book banning, not only in the oppressive countries around the world, but also in the United States. They have included too the attempt to expel from universities anyone who disagrees with the dogmas of their would-be controllers.' Atwood is the fourth recipient of the freedom to publish prize, which is decided on by The Bookseller and Index on Censorship. Previous recipients have included Salman Rushdie and Arabella Pike, a publishing director at HarperCollins who was recognised for her 'fortitude and bravery' in defending two of her authors in the face of legal battles brought against them by Russian oligarchs. Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller and the British Book awards' chair of judges, said: 'From east to west, our writers are now challenged, coerced and threatened in ways we thought were being consigned to history. Margaret Atwood and her books stand against that.' Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, a dystopia about an oppressive society in which women are forced to give birth to children, is one of the books most often challenged or banned in US schools. In 2022, the novelist announced an 'unburnable' edition of her most famous novel as a symbol against censorship. With 'acts of bold creativity' such as this, as well as through her writing and public advocacy, Atwood 'confronts repression not with fear but with wit and clarity', said Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO of Index on Censorship.
Bloomberg
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
To Save Catholicism, Let's Talk Nuns, Not Popes
The election of an American pope, Leo XIV, is a fitting culmination of a conclave that had the feel of an American presidential election, except shrouded in secrecy and mercifully brief. Conservatives and liberals rallied around their favorite candidates, dished dirt on the opposition and adopted slogans ('unity' and 'diversity') aimed at swing voters. And like a presidential contest, it fixated public attention — and people's hope for the future — on the wrong target: a savior-like figure who can deliver us from, if not evil, the other side of the aisle. One of underlying causes of political polarization in the US – that all politics is now national instead of local – is afflicting Christianity, too. Among Catholics, it can be more common to talk about the pope's politics than the parish's food pantry, partly thanks to pundits more concerned with Vatican machinations than Gospel teachings. As a result, there's more public interest in what's happening with one bishop in Rome, Italy, than all the people in, say, Rome, New York. But what's happening in Rome, New York — and so many places like it — reflects the need for a new spirit of localism, as opposed to clericalism, within the church.
