How will South Korea fare with its new president?
South Korea has a new president after left-wing liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung defeated his conservative rival Kim Moon-soo in a snap election and immediately took office. After several months of political turmoil that culminated in the removal of Lee's predecessor Yoon Suk-yeol from office, European commentators hope for a fresh start.
Young dynamism for democracy
La Stampa sees positive developments:
“In six months, the world has changed in Seoul. 'Lee Jae-myung president', thousands of cheering supporters chanted outside the National Assembly, where six months ago they had acted as human shields to prevent the military from storming the building. This time, the whole of civil society turned out en masse to vote, with turnout at 79.4 percent, the highest it's been since 1997. Among the Democratic Party flags and T-shirts you see hundreds of glow sticks of the type normally used at concerts by K-pop stars. Many of the hands holding them are very young. There are many young men and above all many young women. They're the ones who protected the democratic system in the first place.”
Winning was a walk in the park
Lee's opponent made a fatal mistake, SRF's East Asia correspondent Samuel Emch explains:
“The conservative candidate Kim Moon-soo didn't have the heart to distance himself from the deposed president, who angered many with his unconstitutional power moves. The planned politically motivated arrests, the media crackdown, the attempt to take control of the judiciary - Kim failed to make it clear that these plans as envisaged under martial law were not acceptable to him. This in turn was something that large sections of South Korean society were not willing to accept. In this respect, winning was a walk in the park for Lee. He repeatedly pushed his opponent into this corner of undemocratic fantasies during the election campaign.”
More opportunities than risks
The Irish Times comments on the forthcoming changes in foreign policy:
“Lee has promised what he describes as a pragmatic foreign policy rooted in his country's interests and promised to restore lines of communication with North Korea. ... Lee has also promised a reset in Seoul's relations with Beijing and Moscow, a move that reflects the shifting geopolitical landscape following Trump's return to the White House. The European Union is anxious about this foreign policy tilt but South Korea remains a key ally and economic partner and Lee's election carries more opportunities than risks.”