South Korea’s newly elected President, Lee Jae-myung, brings to workplace a private historical past marked by hardship and an agenda formed by reform. Rising from a baby labourer to the nation’s highest put up, Mr. Lee assumes management in the wake of Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment, with the instant process of stabilising a democracy shaken by political disaster and public mistrust.
Born in 1963 in a poor rural household in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, Lee Jae-myung grew up as one in every of seven kids in a house with no working water or electrical energy. At the age of 13, he deserted faculty to work full time in an industrial plant to help his household. Mr. Lee, unrelenting, studied on his personal and handed equivalency checks to return to highschool. He ultimately earned a legislation diploma from Chung-Ang University and handed the bar examination in 1986.
His early authorized profession was steeped in public service. Choosing to practise not in Seoul’s company places of work however in Seongnam’s modest legislation places of work, he gained native fame for defending labourers, tenants, and residents affected by city redevelopment. Those circumstances weren’t simply authorized battles; they grew to become the basis of his political id: anti-elitist, reformist, and unapologetically populist.
That ethos fuelled his entry into politics. After a failed try in 2006, Mr. Lee was elected Mayor of Seongnam in 2010. It was right here that he launched initiatives that will later outline his attraction: youth dividends, free faculty uniforms, and an area hospital for low-income residents. His confrontational method to established pursuits typically drew criticism, but in addition admiration. A decade after getting into native politics, he had turn into a family title.
In 2018, Mr. Lee grew to become Governor of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea’s most populous and economically essential area. During his tenure, he expanded housing welfare schemes and pushed for a pilot common primary revenue programme.
By now, his rising nationwide profile was matched by mounting scrutiny. He grew to become entangled in a string of authorized investigations associated to land improvement contracts and allegations of abuse of energy — costs he has constantly denied and characterised as politically motivated.
Political comeback
Mr. Lee first ran for the presidency in 2022, narrowly dropping to conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol. Many believed his political future had reached its restrict. But two years later, the very man who defeated him would inadvertently create the opening for Mr. Lee’s return.
The constitutional disaster that engulfed South Korea in late 2024 set the stage for one in every of the most dramatic reversals in the nation’s political historical past. Then-President Yoon, in a surprising and finally self-destructive transfer, invoked martial legislation to suppress what he claimed have been threats from “anti-state forces”. Instead of stabilising his administration, the declaration incited mass protests and an impeachment course of that led to his removing from workplace.
It was towards this backdrop {that a} snap election was referred to as in early 2025. Mr. Lee, by then the chief of the opposition Democratic Party, ran a marketing campaign presenting himself as each a sufferer of political injustice and a guarantor of constitutional restoration. His speeches, typically delivered behind layers of safety on account of a earlier assassination try, echoed with one theme: by no means once more.
With voter turnout exceeding 77%, South Koreans delivered a decisive verdict. Mr. Lee secured just below 50% of the vote, comfortably defeating conservative rival Kim Moon-soo. It was a symbolic rejection of authoritarian overreach and a public embrace of democratic course correction.
As he enters the Blue House, the govt workplace of the President, a bunch of challenges are awaiting him. Mr. Lee has to deal with rising youth unemployment, housing woes, and stagnant wages. He has pledged a “fair and inclusive” progress agenda targeted on welfare, value aid, and help for small companies.
Internationally, he maintains Seoul’s sturdy ties with the U.S. whereas pushing for renewed inter-Korean dialogue. Yet, his most vital check could also be uniting a fractured citizens and governing a democracy at a turning level.
Published – June 08, 2025 01:44 am IST
