After the win, Yoon Suk-yeol, the conservative PPP party’s presidential candidate, transformed. The bickering campaigner he was in the months before has become a statesman who no longer wants to argue. Former Attorney General Yoon, 61, had to wait a long time before he was certain in a neck-and-neck race against Lee Jae-myung, 57, former governor of Gyeonggi Province of the ruling Democratic Party (DP). After Wednesday’s election, it wasn’t clear until early Thursday morning that Yoon had won 48.56 to 47.83 percent of the vote and was allowed to lead the world’s eleventh-largest economy for five years from May as the successor to DP man Moon Jae-in.
Like a soccer goalscorer, Yoon threw cheering fists in the air. But in his victory speech, he said, “I will take national unity as my first priority.” He called out to the DP: “We have to work together.”
A superlative presidential election has ended that will change South Korea’s security policy and have revealed deep divisions in the country. Observers have described it as the ugliest election since South Korea’s democracy in 1987, because Yoon and Lee fought each other almost exclusively with mutual accusations. And the result is the closest in Korea’s history, with a turnout of 77.1 percent. So unity is indeed necessary and it will be a challenge for Yoon to create it. Because for the time being he seems like the symbolic figure of the division that in South Korea runs not only between left and right, but also between young and old, women and men.
Yoon’s political career only began last year with anger at the DP government. Moon Jae-in promoted Yoon to Attorney General in 2019, after Yoon had been offended by conservative governments in previous years as a stubborn anti-corruption agent. He led the investigation into Moon’s predecessor, Park Geun-hye, which led to her impeachment. So Yoon seemed like the right man for Moon.
No President of Future Issues
But then Yoon investigated Moon’s then Justice Minister, Cho Kuk. Kuk was working on judicial reform intended to curb corruption among prosecutors, which Yoon didn’t want. Kuk went, the reform came anyway. In March 2021, Yoon therefore resigned as Attorney General, saying: “The constitutional values and rule of law that made this country great are being destroyed.” He was very angry. The election victory is his revenge, so to speak.
Yoon is not a candidate for future topics such as energy transition or climate protection. For example, he criticized the planned off-shore wind farm in Ulsan as part of a “DP doctrine”. And because his election campaign was also designed to please young men who feel threatened by the “MeToo” movement and gender equality policies, he has widened the gender gap. Judging by impressions from the election campaign, Yoon is a right-wing populist who believes in the simple laws of the market – and above all in himself.
Yoon comes from a Seoul academic household. His father was a professor of applied statistics and, according to Yoon, his inspiration. Yoon Suk-yeol failed the state law examination at Seoul National University several times. His father never held that against him. Through this he developed an interest in economics and inequality. the Korea Times quotes Yoon with the self-assessment: “I’m basically a libertarian, I like liberal things.”
As president, he is now nurturing the hope of better-crafted economic policy after the Moon government’s attempts to counter social inequality and skyrocketing real estate prices were unsuccessful. And abroad, many are hoping for clearer positions from Seoul in the conflict with China and North Korea. Moon’s policy of rapprochement, which Yoon’s opponent Lee Jae-myung wanted to follow, was only successful for a short time. Relations with Japan have historically been bad, with the Moon government addressing colonial-era conflicts and dealing with North Korea. And she didn’t want to spoil things with Korea’s most important trading partner, China.
Yoon is different and feels empowered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. For him, the proximity to the USA is paramount. He also doesn’t want a dispute with US partner Japan. He doesn’t think China is that important, and he has described his North Korea policy as “peace through strength.” For Yoon, there can be no easing of UN sanctions until North Korea surrenders its nuclear missiles. Until then, he recommends an additional battery of the US anti-missile defense system THAAD and the possibility of a pre-emptive strike if North Korea moves into an attack position. That went down well in Japan. Premier Fumio Kishida said: “I intend to work closely with the new President.”
Seoul 2016 saw how China finds a THAAD station in South Korea. The economic boycott cost a lot of money at the time. And does Yoon-style deterrence really serve peace? In any case, Yoon’s choice changes the mood in East Asia. And in South Korea anyway, although Yoon Suk-yeol actually has to come to terms with the Democratic Party first. The DP has had a strong majority in the National Assembly since the 2020 parliamentary elections. If they don’t want to follow him, the new president has a problem.