Outspoken liberal leader Lee elected South Korea's president, closing period of political tumult
Last edited Tue Jun 3, 2025, 05:39 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: AP
Updated 3:15 PM EDT, June 3, 2025
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Lee Jae-myung, who rose from childhood poverty to become South Korea’s leading liberal politician vowing to fight inequality and corruption, will become the country’s next president on Wednesday after an election that closed one of the most turbulent chapters in the young democracy.
Lee, 60, the candidate of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, is taking office for a full, single five-year term, succeeding Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative who was felled over his stunning yet brief imposition of martial law in December.
It was unclear whether Lee’s election would cause any major, immediate shift in South Korea’s foreign policy. Lee, previously accused by critics of tilting toward China and North Korea and away from the U.S. and Japan, has repeatedly stressed South Korea’s alliance with the U.S. as the foundation of its foreign policy.
The toughest external challenges awaiting Lee are U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policy and North Korea’s advancing nuclear program. But experts earlier said whoever becomes president can’t do much to secure major progress in South Korea’s favor on those issues.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-election-da088cf36a61641e23795688df01ee01
Article updated.
Original article/headline -
Updated 7:45 AM EDT, June 3, 2025
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung is forecast to win South Korea’s snap presidential election, a joint exit poll on Tuesday showed, two months after his archrival and then conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office over his short-lived imposition of martial law.
The exit poll by South Korea’s three major TV stations -– KBS, MBC and SBS -– showed Lee projected to obtain 51.7% of the total votes cast, beating conservative candidate Kim Moon Soo on 39.3%.
Pre-election surveys also suggested Lee appeared headed for an easy win, riding on deep public frustration over the conservatives in the wake of Yoon’s martial law debacle. Kim has struggled to win over moderate, swing voters as his People Power Party remains in a quagmire of internal feuding over how to view Yoon’s actions.
The election serves as another defining moment in the country’s resilient democracy, but observers worry a domestic divide worsened after Yoon’s martial law stunt is far from over and could pose a big political burden on the new president.
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