In this episode of The Korea Pro Podcast, Jeongmin and John cover three key topics surrounding the upcoming South Korean general elections.

First, they delve into the record number of overseas South Koreans who participated in early voting. John shares his experiences with this demographic from his younger days and discusses how the group may have changed over the years.

Next, the hosts address the People Power Party’s challenges, as its interim leader, Han Dong-hoon, pleads with voters during campaign rallies amid low approval rates and calls from within for the president to resign from the party, which have impacted the PPP’s electoral prospects.

Then, Jeongmin examines the controversy surrounding Democratic Party candidate Kim Jun-hyeok, running for parliament in Gyeonggi Province’s Suwon D district. In Aug. 2022, Kim made controversial remarks on a YouTube channel about Kim Hwal-lan, the first president of Ewha Womans University, alleging her involvement in sending “comfort women” to Japan during wartime and forcing Ewha students to provide sexual favors to U.S. military officers during the U.S. military’s rule of the southern half of the Korean Peninsula from 1945 to 1948.

Finally, the team delves into the different video strategies that the three main political parties have adopted to rally their voters, even if all of them are centered around their party leaders to one degree or another.

About the podcast: The Korea Pro Podcast is a weekly 15-minute conversation hosted by Editorial Director Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim) and Editor John Lee (@koreanforeigner), diving deep into the most pressing stories shaping South Korea — and dissecting the most complicated ones for professionals monitoring ROK politics, diplomacy, culture, society and technology. Uploaded every Friday.

This episode was recorded on April 3, 2024. 

Audio edited by Joe Smith

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