{"id":2209127,"date":"2025-04-11T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T23:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2209127"},"modified":"2025-04-10T15:42:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T06:42:08","slug":"lee-jae-myung-leads-crowded-field-as-south-korean-election-draws-near","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/04\/lee-jae-myung-leads-crowded-field-as-south-korean-election-draws-near\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee Jae-myung leads crowded field as South Korean election draws near"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lee Jae-myung, the former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jaemyunglee\/posts\/pfbid02t5eWUtbhoSpRmfYZZPiTBwtdcBDgpSeNrpxshvNraxEfiuk7qnCoSRHyusnSwD8fl\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">formally declared<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> his candidacy for South Korea\u2019s presidency on Thursday, pledging to build a \u201cgenuinely great Republic of Korea\u201d in a Facebook post. Lee, who resigned from his party leadership post on Wednesday, enters the race as the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gallup.co.kr\/gallupdb\/reportContent.asp?seqNo=1550\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">clear front-runner<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but faces a challenge from Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon, who <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20250409030951061?section=search\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">launched<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> his own campaign the same day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the conservative side, former People Power Party (PPP) leader <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20250410105500001?section=politics\/all\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Han Dong-hoon<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, former labor minister <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20250410095900001?section=search\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kim Moon-soo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and lawmaker <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20250408075401001?section=search\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ahn Cheol-soo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have declared their candidacies, while Seoul Mayor <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20250409091400004?section=search\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oh Se-hoon<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Daegu Mayor <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20250410071900053?section=search\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hong Jun-pyo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and lawmaker <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20250410110000001?section=search\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Na Kyung-won<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are preparing formal announcements. The PPP\u2019s primary is expected to be highly competitive, with candidates staking out divergent positions following former President Yoon Suk-yeol\u2019s removal from office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>WHY IT MATTERS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next president will inherit a volatile political and economic environment shaped by global trade protectionism, domestic political distrust and the aftermath of Yoon\u2019s impeachment. Managing these pressures while steering South Korea\u2019s export-dependent economy through external shocks \u2014 including the escalating <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/04\/trumps-tariff-pause-steadies-markets-but-south-koreas-crisis-is-far-from-over\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">U.S.-China tariff war<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 will be a defining challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the DP, Lee\u2019s populist-nationalist rhetoric contrasts with Kim\u2019s technocratic background. However, Lee is widely expected to secure the party\u2019s nomination with ease. Meanwhile, the fragmented PPP field reflects a broader struggle to define the party\u2019s identity in the post-Yoon era. Yoon loyalists like Kim Moon-soo may be well-positioned in the PPP primary, but are unlikely to gain traction with moderate or swing voters in a general election.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/domestic-politics\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lee Jae-myung, the former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) formally declared his candidacy for South Korea\u2019s presidency on Thursday, pledging to build a \u201cgenuinely great Republic of Korea\u201d in a Facebook post. Lee, who resigned from his party leadership post on Wednesday, enters the race as the clear front-runner but faces a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2209128,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-2209127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefings","tag-domestic-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lee Jae-myung leads crowded field as South Korean election draws near - Korea Pro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/04\/lee-jae-myung-leads-crowded-field-as-south-korean-election-draws-near\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lee Jae-myung leads crowded field as South Korean election draws near - Korea Pro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lee Jae-myung, the former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) formally declared his candidacy for South Korea\u2019s presidency on Thursday, pledging to build a \u201cgenuinely great Republic of Korea\u201d in a Facebook post. 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