00:00For more on this story, we can bring in Edward Howell, who's a lecturer in international relations at the University of Oxford.
00:07Thank you very much for speaking to us on France 24.
00:10I want to start with talking about Lee Jae-myung.
00:13Before Yoon's Marshall lobbied, as our correspondent just mentioned, securing the presidency probably didn't look so easy for him.
00:20He was facing ongoing legal cases and was convicted of making false statements during his last presidential campaign.
00:26Tell us more about that.
00:30Thank you. Well, Lee Jae-myung still faces ongoing criminal charges.
00:34They have been postponed until after Election Day, which is obviously today, and they will take place throughout June.
00:42So the first few weeks and months of his term will not be easy, particularly given these ongoing charges, which are very, very serious.
00:51They include the violation of election law in the run-up to the 2022 presidential election, in which he lost by a very slim margin to Yoon Sa-kyol.
01:03But they also include charges, including sending remittances and facilitating the sending of remittances of $8 million to North Korea, which bodes not very well and then raises actually serious concerns for a new South Korean government's policy towards the north.
01:21Do you think it's likely, then, that he could be convicted after being elected?
01:26We will have to wait and see.
01:31I know from history that the fates of South Korean presidents of both parties have not been good.
01:38I think the Lee government will face severe domestic challenges, particularly pertaining to South Korea's sluggish economic growth, the ongoing polarization in South Korean society, but also in terms of foreign policy.
01:54You know, Lee Jae-myung has expressed sympathy with China's criticisms of the U.S. and China's criticisms of South Korea in the past.
02:02And he's also adopted in the past, he's made statements highlighting how the U.S.-South Korea-Japan trilateral relationship was seen as pro-Japanese.
02:14So, this does risk alienating and straining South Korea's already precarious relationships with the United States and with Japan.
02:24And in the wake of this martial law bid by Yoon Suk-yeol, we saw divisive protests, some anti-Yoon, some in his favor.
02:36Can South Korean society move on from this and heal those divisions?
02:39Well, I think the first thing to bear in mind is that South Korea has experienced polarization long before Yoon Suk-yeol's abortive declaration of martial law on the 3rd of December last year.
02:54Again, Lee Jae-myung's election is not the first time that a snap election has taken place in the aftermath of an impeachment.
03:00Here we saw this following the ouster of Park Geun-hye, after which the liberal left-leaning president Moon Jae-in took over in 2017.
03:14So, polarization has been longstanding in South Korean society.
03:17There is, on the part of both sides, and in terms of the general public, a desire to heal division and to move forward, particularly given the aforementioned economic crises being felt in South Korea and also the foreign policy challenges.
03:35There is a need to move on and not to let domestic politics get in the way of an increasingly hostile and threatening geopolitical environment in which South Korea is situated.
03:51It's not just North Korea, which is increasing its belligerence, but also China, Russia, and the cooperation between all three actors as well.
04:00So, where does this leave Yoon's People Power Party? How do they rebuild from this?
04:05Well, we know that Yoon's People Power Party, according to the exit poll, suffered a significant defeat.
04:18We know that in the prelude to today's election, there was conflict between different candidates, Kim Moon-soo, the eventual candidate, but also the former acting president, Han Dock-soo, amongst others.
04:34I think there is a need for both main political parties, but also other political parties, there are not just two political parties in South Korea, to avoid letting interneasing disputes from within the party affecting foreign policy.
04:54I do think that now is a juncture, a critical moment for South Korea to recognize the need to ally with the U.S., to strengthen ties with Japan, which have not always been easy.
05:05And which arguably, you know, I mean, actually, the Union Psychiol administration was very successful at, in terms of trying to repair relations between Seoul and Tokyo, given what we face, given what South Korea faces in its immediate vicinity and beyond.
05:22And I think the need to deter China, North Korea, Russia, as well, is extremely important.
05:30All right. Edward Howell from Oxford University. That's all we have time for. Thank you very much for speaking to us.
