ROK Democratic Party presidential campaign team | Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol fist-bumping at a televised debate on Feb. 25, 2022
The war in Ukraine has become a major talking point in South Korea’s presidential election in recent days, as the leading candidates have used a televised debate and social media to draw parallels between the war in Eastern Europe and the possibility of conflict with North Korea.
Conservative Yoon Suk-yeol and progressive Lee Jae-myung have both accused each other of “mocking” Ukraine in the process: Yoon said the Russian invasion is a “sad” result of Ukraine “disarming itself and trusting a piece of paper” without strong alliances, while Lee said diplomacy by an inexperienced politician led
The war in Ukraine has become a major talking point in South Korea’s presidential election in recent days, as the leading candidates have used a televised debate and social media to draw parallels between the war in Eastern Europe and the possibility of conflict with North Korea.
Conservative Yoon Suk-yeol and progressive Lee Jae-myung have both accused each other of “mocking” Ukraine in the process: Yoon said the Russian invasion is a “sad” result of Ukraine “disarming itself and trusting a piece of paper” without strong alliances, while Lee said diplomacy by an inexperienced politician led to war.
Jeongmin Kim is a Lead Correspondent at NK News, based in Seoul. Kim covers inter-Korean and DPRK-related foreign, defense and humanitarian affairs, and has covered the 2022 ROK Presidential election on the ground. Prior to joining NK News, she worked for the CSIS Korea Chair in Washington D.C. and Reuters news agency's Seoul bureau. Follow her on Twitter @jeongminnkim