What Lee Jae-myung’s presidential win means for South Korea

POPULIST STANCE

Lee’s victory comes six months after he evaded military barricades to vote against Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration, which threw South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades. 

The emergency decree, seen as an attempted coup, sparked mass protests and led to Yoon’s removal from office in April, less than three years into his five-year term. 

Hours after his victory on Wednesday, Lee, a former human rights lawyer, pledged to restore democracy and unite the country.  

“We have had a very long, turbulent political landscape for six months,” said M Jae Moon, distinguished professor of public policy and management at Yonsei University. 

“I think the high turnout in the vote really demonstrated how people are interested in going back to the normal and restoring the democratic norms.”

He added: “There has been a lot of political protesting on the streets, and that eventually polarised the society. So people really want to get democracy back.”