South Korea spent 2025 responding to social and institutional stress primarily through tougher enforcement and after-the-fact intervention, rather than through reforms aimed at reducing repeated failure.

This governing posture took shape during a year of political disruption and transition. The first half of 2025 unfolded under institutional uncertainty following former former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 2024 martial law declaration, his impeachment and prolonged legal proceedings through April.

A snap presidential election in June brought the Lee Jae Myung administration to power amid administrative backlog, elevated social tension and weakened public trust. Governance throughout the year, therefore, focused on stabilizing