Seoul, 15 March 2022 (TDI): South Korea is about to usher in a new era as a conservative Yoon Suk-yeol has won the battle of the Presidential race by less than one percent.
On 9th March, Yoon Suk-yeol, the Conservative Party’s candidate won the South Korean election for a single five-year term defeating Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party.
The election results were announced early Thursday with an unpredictable campaign season that saw a remarkable turnout despite record Covid-19 cases throughout the country. The victory of Yoon marks a return to power for the Conservative People Power Party after five years of the Democratic Party’s rule.
Yoon entered politics last year and rose to prominence for successfully prosecuting the former Conservative President, Park Geun-hye on corruption charges. Yoon, a political novice has also been compared to the former United States President Donald Trump.
Yoon Suk-yeol has pledged to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and has blamed feminism for the low birth rate in the country which has one of the worst records on women’s rights in the developed world.
The South Korean President-elect is rather claimed to be more hawkish on foreign policies than the current liberal leader Moon Jae-in. Yoon wants to be tougher on China and proposes that South Korea should cooperate more fully with the Quad.
Quad is a security alliance between the United States, Australia, India, and Japan; an informal grouping created to counter Beijing’s growing influence in the region. However, so far Yoon Suk-yeol has stopped short of saying that Seoul should join the alliance.
His views on foreign policy are a decisive shift from his predecessor who favored engagement with Pyongyang and largely avoided taking a stance that would inflame China, the country’s largest trading partner.
Yoon also wants to develop technology that would allow South Korea to launch a preemptive attack in the situation of an imminent North Korean war. He told his supporters after his victory that he would pay attention to people’s livelihood.
Likewise, he pledged to provide welfare services to the needy and make utmost efforts so that country serves as a proud and responsible member of the international community and free world in foreign policy space.
