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North Korea acknowledges South’s presidential election for first time

Published: 05 Jun. 2025, 11:03

President Lee Jae-myung speaks at an economic emergency meeting at the presidential office in central Seoul on June 4. [YONHAP]

North Korea acknowledged South Korea’s 21st presidential election for the first time on Thursday, officially reporting the results through its state-run media.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that a presidential election took place on Tuesday, two months after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached following last year’s Dec. 3 martial law imposition.

The KCNA added briefly that the Democratic Party’s candidate Lee Jae-myung was elected as South Korea’s new president.

The same report appeared on page six of the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North Korean Workers’ Party, which is primarily read by North Korean citizens.

This marks the first time North Korea has mentioned South Korea’s 21st presidential election. Since the impeachment of former President Yoon, Pyongyang had remained silent on the unfolding electoral developments. In contrast to past elections, where North Korea’s propaganda outlets often denounced South Korean politics, this muted acknowledgment appears to reflect the North’s current stance of treating inter-Korean relations as ties between “hostile states,” a policy it began promoting in late 2023.

In previous elections, Pyongyang’s response times and tone varied. During the election in 2007, when President Lee Myung-bak won, the North reported the result within a week. Following the election in 2012, the regime omitted President Park Geun-hye’s name in its coverage, stating only that the Saenuri Party candidate narrowly won.

After the election in 2017, which saw President Moon Jae-in take office, the pro-Pyongyang newspaper Choson Sinbo, published by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, reported the news the day after the vote, with KCNA following suit one day later.

For the election in 2022, KCNA reported two days later on Yoon’s election win, describing him as a candidate of the conservative opposition party.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]