Yoon Suk-Yeol from the conservative People Power Party was elected as South Korea’s new president on Thursday with 48.6% of the votes, narrowly defeating the ruling Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-myung, who received 47.8% of the votes. Voter turnout was recorded at over 77%, or 24 million people, and marks the first election in which a former prosecutor and someone without any previous political experience has been elected. He is set to begin his single five-year term on May 10.
In his victory speech at the National Assembly, Yoon said that he would work with opposition parties to “heal polarised politics” and foster national unity. The new leader also pledged to improve livelihoods and socio-economic conditions.
Yoon, who the Korean media has described as “anti-feminist,” is also expected to bring in large-scale government restructuring. The conservative leader has pledged to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. He is expected to redirect the ministry’s focus to gender equality, rather than its current function of concentrating on women’s rights.
Yoon will soon have to confront a multitude of international political challenges, such as tense ties with Japan, an increasingly aggressive North Korea, which continuously launches ballistic missile tests, and a changing global security environment sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Against this backdrop, he called for improved ties with Japan and the United States (US), Seoul’s most powerful ally.
Conservative South Korean opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol was elected president, edging out the ruling Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung in one of the closest fought races in recent history https://t.co/TBjeX7XpvK pic.twitter.com/hK4fBIxo7V
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 9, 2022
Addressing the need to cooperate with Japan, Yoon said that his administration will need “to investigate the truth of the past and put our heads together over the problems that should be solved,” referring to their dispute over compensation for Korean forced labourers and “comfort women” during WWII as well as the Takeshima/Dokdo islands. He has also pledged to restart currently stalled reciprocal visits between their heads of state.
With respect to the US, the 61-year-old has made it clear that a boosted alliance with Washington would be at the centre of his foreign policy, including pursuing reconciliation with Japan and bolstering trilateral relations. In a phone conversation with President Joe Biden on Thursday morning, the two leaders agreed to meet in the near future to improve bilateral ties.
South Korean president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has demonstrated he's anti-feminism. He's said structural gender discrimination doesn't exist. He's accused foreigners of being health insurance leeches. He's belittled poor people, Africa. He's shown signs of homophobia and transphobia.
— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) March 9, 2022
The president-elect also assured that he would firmly deal with North Korea but leave space for the resumption of the stalled inter-Korean dialogue. During his election campaign, Yoon had proposed making economic aid to North Korea conditional upon its progress toward denuclearisation. To this end, he also spoke of the need for a stronger US security commitment to deter North Korean aggression. Taking a proactive stance on Pyongyang, Yoon has previously expressed his intention to launch preemptive strikes on the North if it displays an intent to attack.
While Yoon hasn’t said much in relation to ties with China, Harry Kazianis, a senior director at the Washington-based Center for the National Interest, speculated that “a conservative Blue House will talk tough but the economic relationship with Beijing is worth too much to join some sort of anti-China alliance.” However, in a move that might irk Beijing, the president-elect has voiced a need to deploy additional units of the US’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system against North Korea’s growing missile capabilities.
Yoon succeeds incumbent President Moon Jae-In, who leaves behind a legacy of advocating for partial sanctions relief for North Korea and restarting dialogue with its estranged neighbour.