Lee Jae-myung just announced he's running for president. Here's everything you need to know.

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Lee Jae-myung just announced he's running for president. Here's everything you need to know.

Published: 10 Apr. 2025, 11:48 Updated: 10 Apr. 2025, 20:20

SARAH KIM
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Liberal Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung announces his resignation as party leader at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on April 9. [NEWS1]

It is no surprise that liberal darling Lee Jae-myung declared his presidential candidacy Thursday after he stepped down as chief of the Democratic Party (DP) the previous day.

Lee’s latest presidential bid was a given the moment he was defeated by a razor-thin margin of 0.73 percentage points to the conservative People Power Party’s (PPP) candidate, Yoon Suk Yeol.

Former President Yoon was impeached and ousted last Friday for his Dec. 3 martial law imposition, truncating a five-year presidential term and leading way to a presidential election on June 3, two years earlier than expected.

Lee, 61, considered a front-runner in the upcoming race, didn’t wait a week to throw his hat in the ring, as his bid has been three years in the making.

Since his narrow presidential defeat, he has more political experience under his belt, both as a lawmaker and the leader of his party, having led the DP in several races including a landslide victory in last year’s general election. He also has more enemies than ever before, even within his own party, and is facing a set of legal battles including allegations related to a land development scandal in Gyeonggi during his time as Seongnam mayor.

Lee Jae-myung waves a party flag after he elected as the leader of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) for a second term at the national convention held at the KSPO Dome in Olympic Park, Songpa District, eastern Seoul, in August 2024. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Lee in a nutshell

In a rags to riches story, Lee was born fifth out of seven children in Andong, North Gyeongsang, in 1963, and worked as a child to support his large family before becoming a self-made lawyer.

After graduating elementary school, Lee was sent to work at a factory in Seongnam, eventually sustaining an injury to his left arm while working with a machine making baseball gloves. He never received proper medical treatment and his left arm is still bent to this day. The injury exempted him from Korea's mandatory military service. Lee is said to have studied on his own to pass exams to gain admission to the law school at Chung-Ang University in 1982. He passed the bar in 1986 and opened an office in Seongnam in 1989.

Lee served as a human rights lawyer before he entered politics. He served as Seongnam mayor from 2010 to 2018 and Gyeonggi governor for 2018 to October 2021.

In June 2022, Lee was elected to represent Incheon’s Gyeyang District B.

Lee became DP chairman in August 2022 soon after his presidential defeat. He was elected by the DP for a second term in August 2024, further solidifying his candidacy for another presidential run.

He had a close brush with death on Jan. 2, 2024, after he was stabbed in the neck by a man posing to be a supporter while campaigning in Busan.

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung announces he will run for the 21st presidential elections in a video footage released by his campaign team Thursday. [NEWS1]

Been there before

Lee’s eyed presidency for years now. He lost the DP primary for the presidential election while he was Seongnam mayor in 2017, losing out to former President Moon Jae-in.

In October 2021, then Gyeonggi Gov. Lee won the ticket to become the Democratic Party's presidential candidate for the 2022 election, defeating his rival Lee Nak-yon, a former prime minister and ally of then liberal President Moon Jae-in, in the DP primaries.
However, he was ultimately defeated by Yoon in the March 9, 2022 election, who won just 247,077 more votes to become Korea’s 20th presidential election.

The 2022 race was at the time dubbed the "most unlikeable" election ever, with people voting for the presidential candidate they disliked least. The presidential campaign was defined by unprecedented personal attacks and mudslinging.

Not much has changed since, with a country more polarized since that election.

Lingering legal woes

Lee is a suspect in five criminal indictments concerning various scandals that took place during his time as Seongnam mayor and Gyeonggi governor. They include allegations of corruption and bribery related to land development projects in Gyeonggi's Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong and corporate donations to the Seongnam FC football club; violation of the election law in his previous presidential campaign, subornation of perjury for falsely claiming during his gubernatorial campaign to have been wrongfully convicted of impersonating a prosecutor; and accusations of involvement in Ssangbangwool Group’s illegal remittances to North Korea from 2019 to 2020 .

Lee’s critics have accused him of aiming for arrest immunity through a parliamentary seat, as under law, lawmakers cannot be arrested or detained while the National Assembly is in session without parliamentary consent. Likewise, he could also be protected from trials if he is elected as president, as Article 84 of Korea’s Constitution outlines the president’s immunity from criminal prosecution and convictions while in office, with the exception of insurrection or treason charges.

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]