Opposition leader and presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is cheered by supporters at a victory rally in Seoul on Thursday morning, March 10, 2022. Yoon won the tight presidential election in South Korea on Thursday, reinstating conservatives to power with calls for a tougher and more confrontational stance on North Korea and a stronger alliance with the United States. (Woohae Cho/The New York Times)WOOHAE CHO/The New York Times News Service
A former prosecutor who has never before held elected office will be the next president of South Korea, bringing the country’s conservatives back to power a mere five years after they were left in disarray by the impeachment and later jailing of former President Park Geun-hye.
Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party squeaked to a 0.73 per cent victory over Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party, according to the National Election Commission, the closest in South Korean history. Mr. Lee conceded early Thursday morning.
It was a dramatic end to a tight-fought campaign dubbed the “unlikeable election” due to candidates’ high disapproval ratings and frequent smear attacks. In pre-election polls neither man consistently topped 40 per cent, and in an editorial Wednesday, the Korea Times bemoaned an election “fraught with internal division, conflicts, scandals and negative attacks the likes of which we’ve never seen, instead of candidates competing over visions and policies for the future of the country.”
“This election has degenerated into a contest in which many voters will hold their noses and choose the lesser evil,” the paper said. “It’s a sad reality.”
Mr. Yoon has pledged to stamp out graft, foster justice and create a more level economic playing field, while seeking a “reset” with China and a tougher stance towards reclusive North Korea, which has launched a record number of missiles in recent months.
He will replace the man who once appointed him the country’s chief prosecutor, President Moon Jae-in, when the Democrat’s constitutionally mandated single term ends in May.
Mr. Moon won a landslide victory in 2017 following the impeachment of President Park, forced from office by a corruption scandal and mass protests known as the Candlelight Revolution. His party went on to secure a strong majority in legislative elections in 2020, but has been dogged by numerous controversies and a failure to deliver on campaign promises, particularly reining in out of control house prices.
Victory for Mr. Yoon marks a dramatic reversal in fortunes for South Korea’s conservatives, who were left in disarray following Ms. Park’s impeachment and subsequent collapse of her ruling Saenuri Party. People Power only coalesced as a serious opposition force last year, as various parties united in order to stand a chance of beating the Democrats.
As top prosecutor, Mr. Yoon oversaw the 2019 conviction of Ms. Park on corruption charges, but quit two years later amid disputes with government lawmakers. He subsequently joined People Power and emerged as the leading conservative candidate for president.
He has capitalised on Democratic Party scandals and allegations of corruption, as well as an anti-feminist backlash among young men critical of President Moon’s efforts to address South Korea’s yawning gender gap and deep-rooted misogyny.
In the final televised debate last week, Mr. Lee criticised Mr. Yoon for saying he would shut down the country’s ministry of gender equality, with the conservative claiming it was not needed, despite South Korean men earning on average 1.6 times their female colleagues in 2020. In a “glass-ceiling index” published by The Economist on International Women’s Day, South Korea ranked last among 29 advanced economies.
Speaking at a victory ceremony Thursday, Mr. Yoon said he will “pay attention to people’s livelihoods, provide warm welfare services to the needy, and make utmost efforts so that our country serves as a proud, responsible member of the international community and the free world.”
Having never before held elected office, Mr. Yoon had been attacked by Mr. Lee and others for his lack of experience, particularly in foreign policy. While North Korea did not feature much in the campaign, the president will face renewed challenge from Pyongyang, which appears to be preparing to launch a spy satellite and has suggested it could resume testing of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons for the first time since 2017.
Relations between the two Koreas have deteriorated significantly since an historic peace process overseen by President Moon secured summits between himself, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, but failed to make any tangible gains, most notably a formal declaration of the end of the war, which has technically been on pause for decades now.
Conservatives typically take a tougher line with the North than the more pro-engagement liberals, and Mr. Yoon will likely be no different, though he has said he will be willing to restart denuclearisation talks with Pyongyang.
Mr. Yoon says he would seek to establish a permanent three-way dialog channel between South Korea, North Korea and the United States, while improving the South’s missile defense by purchasing an additional THAAD system, a move which could spark a backlash from China, Seoul’s largest trading partner.
Congratulating Mr. Yoon on his victory, Washington said “the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea, our economies and our people is ironclad.”
“President Biden looks forward to continue working with the new President-elect to further expand our close cooperation,” a spokesperson for the White House said.
Mr. Yoon’s biggest challenge may be getting anything done at all, given he faces an opposition-dominated legislature that may be unwilling to work with him after what the Korea Times described in an editorial as “negative attacks the likes of which we’ve never seen.”
While his party picked up four seats in by-elections held concurrently with the presidential race, the majority of the National Assembly is not up for reelection until 2024. The Democratic Party holds 172 of the unicameral legislature’s 300 seats, compared to 110 for the People Power Party.
“The biggest constraints on Yoon’s leadership may be internal, given that the Democratic Party-controlled National Assembly will carefully scrutinize the Yoon administration’s policies and personnel in an effort to weaken Yoon’s power,” Scott Snyder of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations wrote this week.
In particular, lawmakers may seek to block Mr. Yoon’s attempts to undo President Moon’s legacy or investigate allegations of corruption against various top Democrats.
Speaking after his victory, Mr. Yoon promised to focus on “national unity,” urging his opponents to “join hands and unite into one for the people and the country.”
With a report from Reuters
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