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Lee Jae-myung elected Korea’s president

Published: 04 Jun. 2025, 05:19 Updated: 04 Jun. 2025, 05:27

SARAH KIM
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Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party, center, greets supporters at an outdoor stage near the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, in the early hours of June 4, soon after his presidential victory was certain. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) was elected as Korea's new president early Wednesday.

His victory came as the country's answer to his conservative predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived declaration of martial law on Dec. 3 last year, leading to the president's impeachment and ouster. The change in government comes some three years after Lee narrowly lost to his rival Yoon in the last presidential election in 2022.

Lee emerged as the victor of the 21st presidential election receiving 49.42 percent of votes, after all votes were tallied as of 5:00 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Election Commission (NEC). Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party candidate, received 41.15 percent of votes, trailed by Lee Jun-seok of the minor Reform Party with 8.34 percent.

DP's Lee received a record 17,287,513 votes in the June 3 election. Yoon set the previous record for the highest number of votes received by a president at 16,394,815 votes in 2022. Lee also received more support than any of his liberal predecessors including late President Roh Moo-hyun, who received 48.91 percent of the votes, and former President Moon Jae-in's 41.08 percent.

The numbers came a little shy of the predictions of a joint exit poll conducted by the major terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS which projected after polling closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday that DP's Lee would win 51.7 percent of the vote, compared to 39.3 percent for Kim and 7.7 percent for the Reform Party's Lee.

Shortly after his victory was evident around midnight, DP's Lee traveled in a motorcade from his residence in Incheon's Gyeyang District, where he had been monitoring the tallying, to the DP headquarters to thank his campaign staff.

"I will never forget the mission the people have entrusted to me," Lee said in remarks to thousands of supporters at an outdoor stage near the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, a little past 1 a.m. Wednesday, pledging to "carry out that duty without fail."

He vowed to "snuff out the insurrection," a pointed reference to Yoon's brief declaration of martial law in December, and said he would ensure that "the military never again uses weapons entrusted to it by the people to stage a coup."

Lee also pledged to pursue "a Korean Peninsula of peaceful coexistence," arguing that preventing further escalation with North Korea was essential to achieving what he called "a true kind of security."

Kim Moon-soo, presidential candidate of the conservative People Power Party (PPP), gives a press conference at the PPP headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, early June 4. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

PPP's candidate Kim conceded his defeat early Wednesday.

"I humbly accept the people's choice," Kim said in a press conference at PPP headquarters in western Seoul around 1:30 a.m., congratulating Lee on his election as president.

Lee, 61, a native of Andong in North Gyeongsang, rose from poverty to serve as mayor of Seongnam in 2010 and later as governor of Gyeonggi, the nation's most populous region.

Overcoming his humble origins as an underage factory worker, where he sustained a permanent injury to his left wrist, Lee became a human rights lawyer advocating for public causes in Seongnam before entering politics in 2005.

After he narrowly lost the March 2022 presidential election to Yoon, he has served as a two-term lawmaker of Incheon's Gyeyang-B District and as DP chief until he decided to run for office, offering him parliamentary experience often desired in presidential hopefuls.

Supporters listen to Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party speak at an outdoor stage near the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, early June 4. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

There will be no traditional two-month transition period for Lee because this was a snap election due to Yoon's removal from office before his five-year term ended.

Lee will be sworn in as president Wednesday morning, after the NEC certifies the result.

In following with a tradition set by his predecessors, Lee will first visit the Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak District, southern Seoul, where former presidents are buried.

A scaled-down inauguration ceremony is scheduled to be held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, around 11 a.m., expected to be attended by some 360 guests. The ceremony is expected to be simple, including the singing of the national anthem, Lee's oath of office and inaugural speech laying out his administration's policy vision.

Because of the lack of a transition period, presidential authority will be transferred immediately to Lee.

Lee will immediately take command of the armed forces upon inauguration, and his first official task will be to speak with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Lee is expected to work out of the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul for now, though he has indicated hopes to move back to the Blue House, the former presidential office in central Seoul which Yoon opened to the public in May 2022 with his inauguration.

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]