Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol at outdoor rallies | Image: Courtesy of Lee and Yoon campaign teams, edited by NK News
South Korean voters will head to the polls Wednesday to vote on who will lead the country for the next five years, with the future of Seoul’s policy toward North Korea one of many issues that hang in the balance.
While the DPRK was not a major talking point heading into the election season, frontrunners Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party have gradually devoted more attention to inter-Korean issues in the final weeks of the race, as Pyongyang’s record-setting barrage of missile tests in January and Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine have focused voters’ attention on armed conflict and national security.
South Korean voters will head to the polls Wednesday to vote on who will lead the country for the next five years, with the future of Seoul’s policy toward North Korea one of many issues that hang in the balance.
While the DPRK was not a major talking point heading into the election season, frontrunners Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party have gradually devoted more attention to inter-Korean issues in the final weeks of the race, as Pyongyang’s record-setting barrage of missile tests in January and Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine have focused voters’ attention on armed conflict and national security.
Jeongmin Kim is the Lead Correspondent at NK News and Editorial Director at KOREA PRO, based in Seoul. Kim covers inter-Korean relations and North and South Korean foreign and military affairs. Kim has covered the 2022 ROK presidential election on the ground, and 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