South Koreans Head to Polls for Snap Presidential Election

TaiwanPlus News

South Korea's constitution mandates a snap election within 60 days of the presidency being vacated. Now, with impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol out of office, voters will choose between two clear frontrunners: Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung and Kim Moon-soo of Yoon's former People Power Party.

Transcript

00:00It's election time in South Korea, but this isn't a usual year for a presidential election.

00:06Koreans vote for their country's president every four years, and the last one was in 2022,

00:11when Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party was voted into office.

00:16He's now been ousted, impeached, and stripped of leadership

00:19after his illegal declaration of martial law threw the country into political turmoil,

00:24and voters are eager for change.

00:27As a citizen, I had to vote in order to end the insurrection as early as possible

00:33and help the country take a step towards the future.

00:35While there are six presidential candidates on this year's ballot,

00:39the race falls to two clear frontrunners,

00:41Lee Jae-myung of the Liberal Democratic Party

00:44and Kim Moon-soo of former President Yoon's People Power Party.

00:48And in this hotly contested campaign, both men have come out swinging.

00:52Even though we have put the insurrection ringleader on trial and removed him from office,

00:59the second and third insurrection attempts are being continued by rebel remnants

01:02who disregard the Constitution.

01:05But one thing is for sure, their insurrection cannot succeed.

01:09His rival, Kim Moon-soo, taking a shot at Lee's high-security campaign

01:14after Lee was stabbed in 2024.

01:16That fake guy says he has to wear a bulletproof vest to give a speech

01:23because he is afraid of the people.

01:26Let me show you.

01:30Their campaigns have only had two months to take shape.

01:34That's because Korea's constitution mandates an election

01:36within 60 days of the presidential office being vacated,

01:40ousted President Yoon Seok-yol sitting out this round,

01:43following a lack of support from within his party, which he left last month.

01:48While Lee and Kim duke it out, accusing each other's parties of corruption,

01:52insurrection and power grabs, voters seek political stability and prosperity.

01:58I hope the next leader is not corrupt like past leaders.

02:03And I hope they put in effort to help people economically to live better lives.

02:07Polls show Lee coming out ahead, with Reuters reporting him leading at 49.2 percent

02:14and Kim at 36.8.

02:16Voters are expected to turn out in record numbers,

02:19and the winner will be sworn into office on June 4th,

02:23skipping the usual two-month transition period.

02:26Amid growing regional tensions with China and the U.S.,

02:29which has levied 25 percent tariffs on South Korean goods,

02:33now partway through a 90-day pause,

02:35whoever wins this election will have their work cut out for them.

02:39Patrick Chen and Jonathan Kaplan for Taiwan Plus.

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