From martial law to insurrection, here are the keywords you should know for the June 3 election

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From martial law to insurrection, here are the keywords you should know for the June 3 election

Published: 15 May. 2025, 07:00

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

From left: Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo and Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok campaign across the country on May 13. [YONHAP]

It’s that time again: the faces of candidates running in the June 3 presidential election are suddenly everywhere, from banners strung between streetlamps to the sides of trucks blasting music from questionably curated playlists.

For 22 days straight from May 12 to June 2, the seven candidates are expected to campaign relentlessly to win a race that is due to take place two years earlier than initially scheduled.

While the presidential hopefuls offer disparate visions for the country, they are also likely to reference the events that precipitated the early election, as well as voters’ concerns regarding the state of the economy.

For readers who need a little help navigating the upcoming race, the Korea JoongAng Daily has compiled a list of key terms that are likely to feature heavily across the competing campaigns.

Martial law

Expect former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s late-night declaration of martial law on Dec. 3 last year to feature heavily in the campaign of Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung.

As then-leader of the DP, which controls 170 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, Lee called on lawmakers to gather at the legislature to rescind Yoon’s decree.

While 190 succeeded in overcoming police and military obstruction to vote against martial law, the episode revived dark memories of how military dictatorships that ruled Korea in the 1970s and 80s once suppressed political opposition with similar fiats.

According to senior military and intelligence officials, both Lee and then-People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon were allegedly on a list of senior politicians marked for arrest by martial law forces.

Han’s condemnation of Yoon’s actions left him isolated in the PPP, and his subsequent resignation marked the party’s turn to even greater loyalty toward the embattled president. The PPP echoed Yoon’s arguments that he was compelled to declare martial law to tame the DP, which under Lee’s chairmanship had impeached several ministers and cut the 2025 budget.

The DP, on the other hand, has cited the martial law episode as an illustration of the dangers of voting for a PPP candidate.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on May 12 after attending the third hearing of his trial on insurrection charges. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Impeachment

Yoon’s bid to impose martial law didn’t just fail — it also pushed the DP-led Assembly to impeach him 11 days later, leading to a Constitutional Court trial that lasted a record total of 111 days.

When the court’s eight justices ruled to dismiss him from office on April 3, they also triggered the upcoming election, which by law must take place within 60 days of a president’s ouster from office.

While support for Yoon’s removal was unanimous within the DP, the picture was more complicated inside the PPP, where prominent members questioned the Constitutional Court’s neutrality and voiced sympathy for Yoon, even as others quietly questioned the wisdom of backing a president who had tried to suspend democracy.

This internal division was on stark display when Han and former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo advanced to the second round of the PPP’s presidential primaries.

In contrast to Han, who said Yoon’s removal from office was justified, Kim argued that procedural and judicial irregularities marred the impeachment process, though he has backtracked on this stance in recent days.

Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung speaks at a campaign event in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, on May 14. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Insurrection

Lee has seized on the PPP’s reluctance to turn against Yoon as evidence that conservative lawmakers are functioning as accomplices to his “insurrection.”

The DP candidate has further argued that his election and wresting the presidency away from the PPP is the surest way to completely end the former president’s hold over politics.

“While the mastermind has been removed from office and is standing trial, the remainder of his party continues to ignore the Constitution and plot another revolt,” Lee said recently on the campaign trail, vowing that he will “end the insurrection for good.”

Observers believe repeated references to Yoon’s alleged plan to overthrow the country’s democratic order serve to remind voters that the PPP did not support the president’s impeachment, and thus deserves to be punished at the polls.

Lee’s party has further called for appointing a defense minister who has not served in the military to implement complete civilian control of the armed forces.

The DP has also floated introducing recall elections that would allow voters to unseat lawmakers accused of malfeasance.

People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo speaks at a campaign event in Miryang, South Gyeongsang, on May 14. [NEWS1]

Candidacy merger

During his primary campaign, former Labor Minister Kim repeatedly said he would be willing to merge his candidacy with that of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to prevent a potential split in the conservative vote.

However, Kim and Han could not agree over who should be the conservative flag-bearer in the week after Kim won the primaries.

While party leaders appeared poised to dethrone Kim to crown Han as the party’s candidate, they were thwarted by a members’ vote that showed a majority preferred to keep Kim as the party’s nominee.

Han ended up bowing out of the race altogether.

Despite this bruising nomination battle, Kim has vowed to unite conservatives and “regain trust from the public” to stop Lee from winning the presidency.

Given Lee’s commanding 50 percent lead in recent polls, Kim and the PPP are also discussing the possibility of another candidacy merger with Lee Jun-seok of the minor conservative Reform Party, according to domestic media reports.

Conservatives have cited the DP’s criticism of the Supreme Court, which recently found Lee guilty of violating election law, as evidence that the party would try to end the judiciary’s independence if its candidate wins the presidency.

Improving livelihoods

However poorly they view each other, liberals and conservatives are cognizant that voters are weary of the country’s constant political infighting and hope for policies to end economic stagnation.

Where the parties differ is how they intend to stimulate growth and “improve people’s livelihoods.”

The DP has promised to invest deeply in research and development, particularly in the AI sector, to create a new industrial base.

In contrast, Kim and the PPP have vowed to carry out deregulation to improve the ease of doing business in Korea, which they argue will “revitalize the economy.”

The PPP has also promised to lower the corporate tax rate from 24 percent to 21 percent to stimulate company spending and investment.

Both parties have argued their macroeconomic proposals will create news jobs, stimulate spending and eventually boost personal incomes.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]