South Korea election takes place under shadow of martial law

The striking characteristic of this election was the main candidate of the opposition, Lee Jae-Myung, campaigning in a bulletproof vest.

During a recent gathering, he was escorted to the podium by nearby protective officers, ready to protect it with their ballistic holder. He then addressed the crowd behind the glass test, under the gaze of the observers on the roof.

It is not South Korean politics as usual. But South Korea has not been itself in recent times.

He always recalls the crisis of martial law last December, when the president, Yoon Suk Yeol, tried to orchestrate a military control.

He failed, due to the resistance of the public and politicians, and was charged, triggering this early election to choose his successor.

But Chaos Yoon unleashed that night heard.

Although stuck in the limbo, without president, the country has become more polarized and its more violent policy.

During street demonstrations earlier this year, he became commonplace to sing that various political leaders are executed. And since the launch of her presidential candidacy, Lee has received death threats, and her team has said that she even discovered a credible plot to assassinate him.

This election is an opportunity to bring South Korea back to safer and more stable land and to heal these fractures.

Given this, the ruling party was always going to fight, spoiled by the self-defusing coup of President Yoon. But rather than detaching himself from the former disgrace president, the conservative People Power Party (PPP) chose a candidate who defended Yoon and his actions several times.

Kim Moon-Soo, the former Yoon Minister of Labor, was the only member of the cabinet who refused to stand up and apologize during a parliamentary hearing in martial law. He said sorry only in his campaign after winning Yoon’s public approval.

This has transformed the election in addition to a referendum on martial law than anything else. Given that most of the public massively rejected this decision, he also practically endowed the path of the leader of the opposition Lee, who was heard live on the walls of the Parliament complex, to enter and vote in the order of the president.

Now, the politician of the Democratic Party describes himself as the only candidate who can make sure that this does not happen again. He said he would modify the Constitution to make more difficult for future presidents to declare martial law.

“We must prevent the return of the rebellion forces,” said Lee to the voters during his recent gathering behind the fortified glass.

Such promises have attracted people from the whole political spectrum. “I did not like Lee before, but since the martial law, I now trust and I count him,” said Park Suh-Jung, 59, who admitted that it was the first time that she has been witnessing a political event.

A man in their fifties said he was a member of another small political party, but had decided to support Lee this time: “It is the only person who can end the insurrection of the Martial law of Yoon. We must stop those who destroyed our democracy.”

The most recent polls placed Lee about 10 points in front of his rival Kim, but he was not always as popular. It was his second time for the president, having lost Yoon three years ago. He is a division character, who was involved in a series of judicial cases and political scandals. There are many who don’t trust him, who even hate him.

Kim, hoping to capitalize on this, qualified as “the just and just candidate”. It is a slogan that his supporters have adopted, many apparently support him not for his policies, but because he is not Lee.

“I don’t like Kim but at this point, there is no real choice. The other candidate has too many problems,” said an elderly woman who plans to vote for him.

Kim has drawn an unusual political path. As a student who campaigned for workers’ rights, he was tortured and imprisoned under the right-wing dictatorship of South Korea in the 1980s, but then moved to the right itself.

He was chosen by the basis of the party, many of which are always faithful to Yoon. Party management, realizing that he was not the best choice, tried to replace him at the last minute with a more moderate and experienced politician, to be blocked by furious members.

This left the weak and divided party, many suspecting that it will affect rival factions after the day of the vote. “Haven’t we already imploded?” An initiate said recently, their crumpled face in their hands. “This is a miserable campaign.”

“The choice of Kim is the biggest error that the conservative party made during this election, and they know it. They will have to be held responsible for this decision,” said Jeongmin Kim, executive director of Korea Pro, a news and analysis service based in Seoul.

Lee took this opportunity to improve centrist votes. He moved his policies to the right and even said that his left party was, in fact, a conservative.

This, despite his reputation on the left of the left. He grew up in a slum outside Seoul, working in factories rather than attending school, and is someone who previously cited the American senator Bernie Sanders.

But he has made his previous promises to introduce a universal basic income. This time, he courts the powerful corporate companies in South Korea, the Chaebols. He even incorporated the red conservative color into his own blue logo and hits the countryside path with red and blue coaches.

He also renamed his foreign policy. As a general rule, his Democratic Party is careful about the Korean security alliance with the United States, preferring to prioritize relations with China and North Korea.

But Lee presents himself as a “pragmatist” who can adapt to a changing security environment. “The American-Korea alliance is the backbone of our national security. It should be strengthened and in-depth,” he said in a recent televised debate.

All this has left the voters and diplomats here uncertain of what he really represents and what he will do if it is elected – although it seems to be the point.

Ms. Kim, the Korea Pro analyst, thinks that his makeover is more authentic than it might seem. “He was already above in the polls, so he didn’t need to work hard to win votes,” she said. “I think he is playing a longer match. He wants to be a popular leader, someone who can be trusted by more than half of the country.”

Gathering the country will be the biggest challenge for anyone winning.

When people vote on Tuesday, it will take six months for the day since they went out in the street to resist a military control.

After months of chaos, they are desperate to move forward, so that the country can start solving urgent problems that have been suspended, including pricing negotiations with American president Donald Trump.

But more than anything, they hope that this election will be able to restore their own confidence in their democracy, which has been seriously shaken.

During a baseball match in the capital Seoul last week – undoubtedly the only place where the Koreans are as tribal as of politics – the two parties were united, perfectly aware of the importance of this election.

“I am really concerned about our democracy,” said Dylan, data engineer. “I hope we have the power to save it and make it larger than before. My vote is an element of power.”

“The next president must show clearly and in a transparent manner what he does,” said a man in the middle of his twenties. “We have to look at him carefully.”

If Lee wants to win, and by the margin that the polls suggest, he would have a solid mandate, as well as the control of the Parliament, giving him three years to implement major political reforms.

This could be good for the reconstruction of the stability of South Korea, but he would resist his own challenges, said political analyst Ms. Kim.

“If Lee wins, he will have a lot of power. {Given how Yoon behaved}, he must be very responsible during use.”