South Koreans vote for new president after Yoon Suk Yeol’s ouster over martial law

South Koreans vote for a new president in an early election triggered by the eviction of YOON SUK YEOLa curator who faces accusations of rebellion on his Short -term taxation of martial law at the end of last year.

The vote began at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, in more than 14,000 polling stations nationwide, the electoral commission said. The vote ends at 8 p.m., and the observers say that the winner could emerge in midnight.

More than 15 million people had already voted during a two -day early voting period last week, representing almost 35% of the country’s 44.4 million eligible voters.

The pre-electoral surveys suggest that the Liberal Archival of Yoon, Lee Jae-Myung, seems to go towards an easy victory, surfing a wave of public frustration against the conservatives following the debacle of the Martial Law of Yoon. In an article on Facebook, Lee called on voters to “render a severe and resolved judgment” against conservatives after the months of political disorders.

Meanwhile, the main conservative candidate, Kim Moon-Soo, had trouble gaining moderate voters and swing.

This election is another decisive moment in the resilient democracy of the country, but observers fear that a domestic fracture aggravated by Yoon is far from over and could pose a great political burden to the new president.

The winning candidate will be immediately sworn as president for a single complete five -year term without the two -month -old transition period. The new president will face major challenges, including a slowing economy, the policies of America of President Trump and Nuclear threats evolving from North Korea.

Lee preached patience Trump’s pricing policyarguing that it would be a mistake to precipitate negotiations looking for an early with Washington. Kim said he would meet Mr. Trump as soon as possible.

Final campaign pitches

In his final campaign speeches on Monday, Lee promised to revitalize the economy, reduce inequalities and facilitate national divisions. He urged the people to vote for him, arguing that Kim victory would allow Yoon’s “rebellion forces” to return.

“If they gain in one way or another, it would mean the return of the forces of rebellion, the destruction of democracy, the deprivation of human rights, the normalization of martial law and the fall of our country in a nation behind the third world,” Lee told the crowd in a Seoul park.

Kim, a former Minister of Labor under Yoon, warned that a Lee victory would allow him to have excessive power, launch political reprisals against opponents and legislate on laws to protect him from various legal problems, because his party already controls Parliament.

Lee “is now trying to grasp all power in South Korea and establish a dictatorship in the shape of a Hitler,” Kim told a rally in the southeast city of Busan.

Unclean North Korea Relations

Relations with North Korea remain seriously tense since 2019, the North has focused on expanding its nuclear arsenal while refusing dialogue with South Korea and the United States

Since the start of his second term in January, Trump has repeatedly expressed his intention to resume diplomacy with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Une Jong UBut Kim has so far ignored the offer while making Russia its priority in foreign policy.

Lee, who wants warmer links with North Korea, recently recognized that it would be “very difficult” to make a summit with Kim Jong one anytime soon. Lee said that he would support Mr. Trump’s push to restart talks with Kim Jong Un, who, according to him, would ultimately allow South Korea to be involved in certain projects in North Korea.

The strategists of foreign policy for Lee understand that there is not much to do South Korea to cause denuclearization of North Korea, said Paik Wooyeal, professor at Yonsei University in Seoul.

He said Lee does not share the Korean nationalist zeal held by the former Liberal president, Moon Jae-in, who met Kim Jong one on three times during his 2017-2022 mandate.