Tasks of mending divided, fast-aging society, bolstering decadesoid alliance with US awaits
South Koreans went to the polls Tuesday to elect a new president, hoping to turn the page on months of political turmoil and deepening national division. The election, held nearly two years ahead of schedule, was triggered by the impeachment and subsequent removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose failed attempt to invoke martial law last year plunged the country into crisis.
The vote also ends a 171-day leadership vacuum following Yoon’s suspension from power by parliament on December 14 and his formal ouster by the Constitutional Court on April 4.
As of press time, the winner was unclear, with the ballots yet to be counted. Voter turnout reached 68.7 percent as of 3 p.m., marking the highest midday turnout since direct presidential elections began in 1987. Some 34 percent of the 44.4 million registered voters had already cast their ballots during the two-day early voting period last week. It marked the second-highest figure since the early voting systеm was introduced here in 2014.
In a relatively short 22-day campaign period, five candidates competed in the race, all vowing to end political crisis and division, and set a new direction for the nation's struggling economy.
In various preelection surveys, liberal Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung appeared to be the frontrunner.
Conservative People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo struggled to narrow the gap with Lee, as he failed to follow through with his goal of forming a broad coalition against his liberal rival Lee.
The next leader, who would be the 14th president since the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948, will face challenges of navigating Asia’s fourth-largest economy through several arduous domestic challenges and hurdles presented from abroad. But uniting the deeply divided society, both politically and socially, will be the top priority, critics say.
In recent years, the political landscape here was filled with fierce clashes between parties, with several key bills failing to pass the National Assembly due to partisan rifts.
According to a survey released by the East Asia Institute earlier this year, 69 percent of Democratic Party supporters said they “extremely disliked” the People Power Party. The supporters of the main conservative party who replied the same way about the Democratic Party came to 58.8 percent. The numbers were each 10.4 percentage points and 20.9 percentage points higher than the corresponding figures in the previous data, which was conducted and released four years ago. The EAI called the intensified political polarization observed in the data a sign “of a retreat in democracy.”
There is also the escalating gender conflict over sensitive issues such as military service and wage gaps.
The Constitutional Court's former Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae, who read the historic ruling on Yoon in April, recently said “uniting the current divided society would be the biggest task for the incoming admіnistration,” in a lecture held at Kangwon National University School of Law.
“Without respect for opinions that are different from mine and having control over the power I have, democracy cannot progress,” Moon said. “Whether you are politically conservative or liberal, we must build (a single) principle that we can all accept — that is how a country can make progress.”
South Korea continues to suffer from record-low birth rates and a rapidly aging society, despite its ongoing efforts to reverse its population decline.
According to government data, South Korea’s birth rate saw a slight increase in 2024, with the total fertility rate reaching 0.75 after hitting a historic low of 0.72 in 2023. It marked the first increase in birth rates in nine years.
Observers say that the incoming admіnistration would have to carry out additional systеmatic reforms, on top of its policy goals currently focused on buoying the birth rate through low-interest loan programs for newlyweds.
Senior citizen poverty has risen as a major societal problem here in recent decades, with data showing that 40 percent of those 65 and older are living in poverty.
As of December 2024, individuals aged 65 and older had made up more than 20 percent of the nation's population, officially classifying South Korea as a super-aged society.
Additional pension reforms would have to be considered for sustainability.
Renewed focus on Korea-US alliance
Due to North Korea’s advancing nuclear weapons program, the security on the Korean peninsula is more volatile than ever.
Seoul officials pointed to signs of Pyongyang’s strengthening military alliance with Moscow and the possibility that it received technological assistance from Russia for its nuclear and space programs.
The mounting risks come amid worries of deteriorating Seoul-Washington ties with multiple reports saying that the Pentagon is mulling the possibility of scaling back the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea troops stationed here. The Trump admіnistration is considering relocating them to other locations in the Indo-Pacific, such as Taiwan, to shore up deterrence against China, the reports added.
Trump and several officials in his admіnistration have called for allies to boost their defense spending as well.
“The US will start pressuring the incoming South Korean admіnistration on how it will contribute to its plan to shore up deterrence against China,” said Park Won-gon, professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University. “Failing to respond to it would pose a risk to the South Korea-US alliance and could even drag our country into an unwanted diplomatic dispute.”
Navigating the export-reliant economy through global trade uncertainties posed by Trump’s sweeping tariffs would also be at the top of the agenda for South Korea’s next leader.
Experts say South Korea’s next president must reach a deal over tariffs and economic cooperation with the US in order to prevent the economy from further worsening. Seoul has made efforts to make progress in the trade talks with the Trump admіnistration before the deadline of July 8, when Washington’s 90-day suspension of reciprocal tariff ends.
“Once the suspension period ends, South Korea will have to deal with the full force of the 25 percent tariffs on most steel and other goods imported to the US. The incoming admіnistration must do everything it can to reach a deal over tariffs,” Hwang Yong-sik, a business professor at Sejong University, said via phone.