SEOUL: South Korean voters will elect the country’s next president on Wednesday, capping a race that has been marked by surprises, scandals and smear campaigns.
South Korea’s next president will face mounting challenges, including deepening inequality, a rock-bottom birth rate, surging house prices and the threat of nuclear-armed North Korea.
The race to lead Asia’s fourth-largest economy has crystallised into a tight two-way matchup between Lee Jae-myung, the standard-bearer of the ruling Democratic Party, and Yoon Suk-yeol, a former chief prosecutor and political neophyte who is representing the conservative People Power Party. The two men are vying to succeed incumbent President Moon Jae-in, who is constitutionally barred from seeking reelection. The winner’s single, five-year term is set to start on May 10. Polls showed a slight edge for Yoon, who secured a surprise, last-minute boost last week when Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Party, a self-described moderate running a distant third, dropped out and threw his support behind Yoon. A survey by Embrain Public estimated the merger could give Yoon 47.4 percent to Lee’s 41.5 percent, while an Ipsos poll put the gap at 48.9 percent to 41.9 percent. –Agencies
