₦airaland Forum

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s center-left Lee Jae-myung was declared president Wednesday after winning a snap election, taking the helm of a nation deeply divided after his predecessor’s disastrous attempt to declare martial law.

Lee won a thumping victory over conservative Kim Moon-soo, of disgraced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol’s former party, with his term beginning immediately after the National Election Commission certified the vote tally early Wednesday.

In a regular presidential election, South Korea allows for a months-long transition period — but as Lee’s victory came in a snap election after Yoon’s impeachment, his term began right away.

“The National Election Commission hereby declares Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party as the elected president,” National Election Commission chairperson Roh Tae-ak said early Wednesday.

Kim had conceded hours earlier, as final votes were still being counted. Official results showed he had no chance of winning.

Lee assumes office with a bulging in-tray, from sluggish growth and a global trade war to mounting concerns over military ties between nuclear-armed Pyongyang and Moscow.

He also faces the challenge of leading a nation still reeling from the turmoil sparked by Yoon’s martial law declaration in December and the rise of the far right in its aftermath — a development experts say has deeply shaken the country’s collective sense of democracy.

In a speech to supporters early Wednesday, Lee urged South Koreans to move “forward with hope and make a fresh start from this moment on.”

“Though we may have clashed for a while, even those who did not support us are still fellow citizens of the Republic of Korea,” he said.

He also promised to “pursue dialogue, communication, and cooperation” with North Korea, with whom the South remains technically at war, “to find a path toward peaceful coexistence and shared prosperity.”

Lee is expected to start his first day with a traditional phone briefing from the military’s top commander, formally confirming the transfer of operational control of the country.

He is then likely to visit the National Cemetery, a longstanding tradition observed by his predecessors, including Yoon.

A modest inauguration ceremony will likely follow at the National Assembly — the same site where Yoon deployed armed troops on the night he attempted to declare martial law.

Blue House calling?
It will be a muted affair with just a few hundred guests expected to attend, in contrast to the large outdoor events held after regularly scheduled elections, which often attract tens of thousands.

The new leader will then head to the presidential office to begin naming key cabinet members.

Disgraced ex-president Yoon moved the seat of power from the traditional Blue House to a hastily converted government building in Yongsan, which Lee has previously said he would not use.

The focus will be on who is tapped to serve as the presidential chief of staff, prime minister, and director of the National Intelligence Service.

The day is expected to end with a flurry of congratulatory phone calls from world leaders, with US President Donald Trump likely to be the first on the line.

For many voters, like Noh Min-young, 20, who spent months in the street protesting Yoon’s martial law declaration, the election was a relief and would allow the country to get back on track.

“I’m just glad now. There’s no risk of the result being overturned, and the margin is enough not to lose momentum when it comes to clearing up the insurrection or implementing policies,” she told AFP.

But experts warned that Lee’s success in this election — after he lost to Yoon in 2022 — was due as much to his rivals’ failings as his own strengths, with Kim hampered by political infighting and a fractured right-wing vote, split by a third-party candidate.

Lee is also likely to herald a major shift in South Korea’s foreign policy, Gi-Wook Shin, a sociology professor at Stanford University, told AFP.

“Lee is expected to prioritize the alliance with the United States while simultaneously seeking engagement with both China and North Korea,” he said.

That marks a departure from the policies of predecessors, including Yoon, “who largely focused on North Korea and the United States, respectively.”

treesun:
Nlfpmod, can opposition do same in 2027!

South Korea’s center-left Lee Jae-myung was declared president Wednesday after winning a snap election, taking the helm of a nation deeply divided after his predecessor’s disastrous attempt to declare martial law.

algomachine:
Fraudgaban INEC can never declare state of emergency in South Korea, dem go chase am commot come imprison am join.

Here, the people are more powerful than the government, in Nigeria, the people are less than slaves. They use all forms of slave terms like Religion, Tribe etc

You’ll see someone that’s wretched cos he has never had access to quality education, constant power or even basic amenities defending the government like his life depends on it.

In my next life, I’ll swallow my tongue if born into this shithole

anonimi:
“The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events.

He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics.

The slowpoke doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.”

― Bertolt Brecht

anonimi:
You were born here for a reason- to enlighten others and influence them to see the world as you see it.
Why are you failing to do that work of your destiny

oldguyman:
The South Korea’s new President is a friend of China.

Chucks13:
In the next one month they will remove him sorry anything South Korea and Japan type of democracy I'm not interested at all.

treesun:
, can opposition do same in 2027!

treesun:
, can opposition do same in 2027!

algomachine:
Brother, where do I start? The Nigerians you wanna fight for would end up fighting you, I saw what happened during endsars and gave up,

collins2good:
We keep talking about opposition, we have made same mistake before, do we have credible opposition, do we have people in the opposition that are capable, all the opposition am seeing today, are all past leaders that put Nigeria were we are today