“Outsider,” “populist,” a “bulldozer;” these are the labels that have followed Lee Jae-myung throughout his political career.

He now has the South Korean presidency firmly in his sights, leading many national polls and locking up the ruling Democratic Party’s nomination on Sunday.

So far, Lee has promised a “pragmatic” North Korea policy, which entails securing permanent sanctions exemptions for key inter-Korean projects, and proposing the idea of conditional sanctions relief with snapback measures to North Korea and the U.S. to revive denuclearization negotiation. 

Whether Lee as president can carry out his promises will largely depend on whether Seoul can move