South Korea Votes Amid Political Crisis and Leadership Shift

Yoon, a former leading prosecutor and political figure, is now facing serious charges, including insurrection — which can be punished by life in prison or execution, though the country has not executed anyone for decades. He denies all charges. Yoon vacated the presidential residence in April, and he has been living in a serviced apartment in Seoul since then, fighting his legal cases.

Top Candidates and Election Outlook
Voters will select between two top candidates, Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party and Kim Moon-soo of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP). The election occurs on Tuesday; results should be known by Wednesday.

Trained as a lawyer, Mr. Lee Jae-myung, 60, is a former child laborer who became a human rights lawyer. He climbed the political ladder, becoming mayor, governor and legislator. He was defeated, narrowly, by Yoon in the 2022 presidential contest. In January 2024 he was targeted by an assassin and had his throat slashed whilst attending a public event.

Lee resurfaced in national headlines on Dec. 3, 2024, when he and other legislators were confronted by military forces as they convened for an emergency meeting to rescind martial law. His daring leap over a fence to get into parliament was broadcast live and went viral on the internet.

Lee's other campaign promises include political and economic diagnoses and cures, a new constitution that would permit two four-year presidential terms and put restrictions on presidential powers when declaring martial law. He also carps about – boosting small businesses and expanding the AI sector and relieving tensions on the Korean Peninsula as it seeks denuclearization of North Korea. But Lee faces a number of legal challenges over bribery and a property scandal. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, which he says are spurious and politically tinged.

His chief rival, Kim Moon-soo, is a one-time anti-establishment activist who became a conservative standard-bearer. Both Boiko and the URP’s candidate, Volen Siderov, who recently put aside his racist and xenophobic rhetoric, have put the same points on the table – economic recovery, reform of the housing market, better education, more job opportunities – to try to capture the growing dissatisfaction of the public.

The New Leader's Challenges
South Korea is also wrestling with deeper problems than politics. The economy has been dragged down by global uncertainty, trade tensions with the United States during the administration of President Donald Trump as well as fears over a looming recession. The country is confronting a demographic crisis in which falling birth rates and an aging population are posing deep-seated, long-term social and economic challenges.

He said other common concerns for young couples and individuals are expensive childcare, gender inequality and discrimination at work.

At the regional level, North Korea’s threat remains as threatening as ever. Pyongyang has modernized its weapons systems, including hypersonic missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles, and could restart nuclear testing following a pause in 2018. And South Korea has an important security alliance with the United States, with almost 30,000 American troops in the country. Ties with China are also complex — strong in trade but fraught in diplomacy.

Heading to the polls, South Korea stands at a crossroads, deciding who will be the leader who can provide stability and usher the country through its economic, political and regional challenges.