Editor, BBC Korean
EPA-EFESouth Korea has handed a decisive victory to opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung six months after his predecessor’s martial regulation bid failed.
The temporary but disastrous transfer set off big protests and ended former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s profession: impeached and faraway from workplace, he nonetheless faces legal fees for abusing his energy.
However the political chaos that adopted means victorious Lee’s greatest problem continues to be forward of him. He should unite a polarised nation that’s nonetheless reeling from all of it.
He additionally faces challenges overseas – crucially, negotiating a commerce cope with US President Donald Trump to melt the blow of tariffs from South Korea’s closest ally.
His primary rival was the ruling get together candidate and a former member of Yoon’s cupboard, Kim Moon-soo.
He had been trailing Lee for weeks in polls and within the early hours of Wednesday, he conceded defeat, congratulating Lee “on his victory”.
In an earlier speech, Lee had hinted on the win however stopped in need of declaring it. He stated “recovering” South Korea’s democracy could be his first precedence.
The snap election comes simply three years after the 61-year-old misplaced his final presidential bid by a razor-thin margin to Yoon.
It is a exceptional comeback for a person who has been caught in a number of political scandals, from investigations over alleged corruption to household feuds.
Analysts say Lee’s win can be a rejection of the ruling Folks Energy Social gathering (PPP), which was tarred by Yoon’s martial regulation order.
“Voters weren’t essentially expressing sturdy help for Lee’s agenda, slightly they had been responding to what they noticed as a breakdown of democracy,” Park Sung-min, president of Min Consulting, informed the BBC.
“The election turned a automobile for expressing outrage… [and] was a transparent rebuke of the ruling get together, which had been complicit in or instantly chargeable for the martial regulation measures.”
Lee’s win, he provides, exhibits that voters had put South Korea’s democracy “above all else”.
What lies forward
Yoon’s departure additionally left his former get together divided and in disarray, with infighting delaying the announcement of a presidential candidate till early Could.
The chaos within the PPP went past simply Yoon, as two appearing presidents who adopted had been additionally impeached, earlier than considered one of them was reinstated – an indication of how contentious South Korean politics had develop into.
All of this definitely helped the opposition Democratic Social gathering and its candidate Lee, who signalled extra stability.
However whereas he has received the election, his challenges are removed from over.
He faces a trial within the Supreme Court docket over fees of violating the election regulation. The courtroom postponed the trial till after the election to keep away from interference as a result of a conviction might have barred him from contesting.
But it surely’s not clear what occurs if Lee is now discovered responsible, although the regulation says sitting presidents can’t be prosecuted for legal offences, excluding rebellion or treason.
Lee has had a controversial profession wherein he has constructed a loyal base however he has additionally drawn disapproval and ire for what some have known as an abrasive type.
He has spoken overtly of a troublesome childhood in a working class household, earlier than he went to varsity and have become a human rights lawyer.
He then switched to a political profession, making his method up the DP till – in 2022 – he turned their presidential candidate. He campaigned on a extra liberal platform, promising to handle gender inequality, for example.
However after he misplaced the vote, he pivoted, opting this time to maneuver extra towards the centre and play it safer together with his insurance policies.
Getty PhotosIn workplace, he will even want to succeed in throughout the aisle and work with the PPP, a celebration he battled repeatedly throughout Yoon’s time period. However he may have a few of them to work with him to rebuild public belief and mend a fractured nation.
“Years of escalating polarisation below each the [previous] Moon and Yoon administrations have left South Korea’s political panorama bitterly divided,” Mr Park stated.
“Lee might converse of nationwide unity, however he faces a profound dilemma: the right way to pursue accountability for what many view as an tried rebellion with out deepening the very divisions he seeks to heal.”
Regardless of the PPP’s loss, Yoon nonetheless has a significantly sturdy and vocal help base – and they’re unlikely to go away anytime quickly.
His supporters, primarily younger male voters and the aged, usually echo sturdy right-wing narratives and lots of of them consider his declaration of martial regulation was obligatory to guard the nation.
Many additionally peddle conspiracy theories, believing Yoon’s get together was a sufferer of election fraud.
1000’s protested in opposition to his impeachment and in January, shortly after his arrest, a pro-Yoon crowd stormed a courthouse and assaulted cops.
With Yoon gone, there are questions on who may fill that vacuum for his base.
Getty PhotosOne identify particularly has emerged: Lee Jun Seok, who additionally ran for president, however dropped out earlier on Tuesday, when exit polls urged he was trailing too far behind, with simply 7.7% of the votes.
Nonetheless, he has been particularly well-liked with many younger males for his anti-feminist views, which has reminded a few of Yoon, below whom equality for ladies turned a polarising topic.
Younger males of their 30s got here out in increased numbers than standard to vote this time, drawn partially by candidates like Lee Jun-seok. These wanting to carry the PPP-led authorities accountable, and others wanting to make sure Lee Jae-myung’s presidency was dashed, led to this 12 months’s voter turnout reaching 79.4% – the best since 1997.
Nevertheless, it’s not simply therapeutic these divides at residence that can maintain Lee busy within the speedy future. He additionally faces pressing challenges overseas, comparable to navigating the US-Korea alliance below the brand new Trump administration.
“South Korea’s urgent home challenges are more and more intertwined with international dynamics,” Mr Park stated, including that it has implications for the nation’s economic system and defence, on condition that the US is each an important buying and selling accomplice and safety ally.
A commerce cope with the US is high of the agenda, he stated, with sluggish demand and slowing progress already hurting the economic system.
Lee – a seasoned politician – goes into workplace realizing all of this, and within the early hours made a promise to South Korea’s voters.
“I’ll do my utmost to fulfil the nice accountability and mission entrusted to me, in order to not disappoint the expectations of our individuals,” Lee informed reporters.
