South Korea held early elections on June 3rd, 2025, in order to determine who would be the next president. 6 months after the impeachment of then sitting president Yoon Suk Yeol, let’s take a look at how things have changed, and how the future might look for one of the US's closest allies.
On December 3rd, 2024 at 22:27 Korea Standard Time, Yoon Suk Yeol addressed the nation in a televised address. "To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements . . . I hereby declare emergency martial law," Yoon said. The invocation of martial law prohibits political activities, such as the gathering of the National Assembly and local legislatures. It also suspends the freedom of the press. Separately, Yoon ordered the arrest of various political officials including those from the Democratic Party (DPK, his main opposition) and the People Power Party (PPP, his own party). Luckily, the military was not all-in on the plan, and thus; the self-coup was short-lived. Less than 3 hours later 190 legislators unanimously passed a motion lifting martial law, and martial law was lifted by Yoon himself at 4:30 am KST, 6 hours after the declaration.
Yoon declares martial law via televised address. Photo: Jung Yeon-je / AFP
via Getty Images
Why did Yoon declare martial law?
In order to understand this, you have to understand the political climate in South Korea, which if you’re American may not be too difficult. When Yoon won the presidency in 2022, he did so by a margin of less than 1%, barely beating out Lee Jae-Myung of the DPK for the spot. This election was irrefutable evidence that the country was deeply polarized, with both sides viewing each other as “mortal enemies” according to some experts. Despite the presidential victory, Yoon and the PPP were still the minority legislative party and faced an uphill battle enacting any policy. What little they could do resulted in a healthcare crisis, which coupled with various political scandals (including Yoon’s vetos to stop resulting investigations)and intra-party fighting meant that the PPP and Yoon got their butts handed to them in the 2024 legislative elections. Even though the DPK’s win was big, it didn’t meet the requirements to overcome his veto or impeach Yoon. Despite that, the DPK continued to push for investigations into his wife’s scandals and other top officials, and moved to impeach some of those top officials. Yoon’s relationship with opposition legislators was described as “toxic”, as he genuinely believed that his opposition was filled with “Marxists” according to one of his close confidants at the time. While the formal declaration of martial law was a shock to the world, it wasn’t completely unexpected. He was stubborn, convinced his opposition was being controlled by communists, and deeply unpopular, with his approval rating plummeting from 53% at his inauguration to 20% shortly before December 3rd. What else would a man like that do?
What happened next?
After multiple attempts, the DPK managed to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol on December 14th, 2024. Yoon was suspended and replaced by the Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, and would be fully removed from office pending a ruling from the Constitutional Court. Court proceedings began 2 days later, on December 16th. The ruling wouldn’t come for months, and in the meantime Yoon would be arrested, riots would break out, protests were held by groups both supporting and against Yoon, and probably most importantly; a by-election (special election held to fill a vacancy in a specific office that has become vacant between general elections) would be held on April 2nd, 2025. The pan-progressive voting bloc, which includes the DPK, won these elections in a landslide victory, which may have been a sign of things to come. 2 days later, on April 4th, the Constitutional Court would uphold the impeachment, and Yoon would be formally removed from office. 4 days after that, on April 8th, acting President Han Duck-soo declared a snap election to occur on June 3rd, 2025. The DPK would nominate Lee Jae-Myung, the candidate who lost to Yoon in 2022, as their candidate. The PPP would put up Kim Moon Soo as theirs. And then take him down. And then put him back up after failing to secure enough votes to nullify the primary and replace him with Han Duck-soo, who declared the snap election in the first place, but had resigned as interim president in order to run. The PPP and South Korean politics were in chaos, but hopefully resolution was around the corner.
The snap election
On June 3rd, 2025, the snap election would take place. The martial law fiasco had been the centerpoint of the rhetoric leading up to the election, and understandably so. This election marked the highest turnout election since 1997, with 79.38% of the eligible voting population casting a ballot. Despite the increased turnout, the result didn’t take long. In the early hours of June 4th, Kim Moon Soo would concede and Lee Jae-Myung of the DPK would be the new president of South Korea. Finally tallies would put the tallies at Lee - 49.4%, Kim - 41.2%. Overall, the PPP had a solid showing for a party in disarray, as there was a 3rd party conservative candidate, Lee Jun-seok of the Reform party, that took 8.34% of the vote. Nonetheless, the DPK is now in control of both the National Assembly and the Presidency of South Korea.
South Korea's Democratic Party's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung,
gestures as his supporters gather outside of the National Assembly in Seoul,
South Korea, Wednesday, June 4, 2025.Lee Jin-man / AP
So, what happens next?
As you can imagine, President Lee has some tough challenges in front of him. The unique circumstances that allowed him to take power loom large over the country. He’s given the right answers so far, promising robust reforms to limit the president’s ability to declare martial law among other changes. His promise to “heal wounds” means that despite the large majority, Lee will take a pragmatic approach to domestic policy. How this will affect the President’s ideas around things like his promises around instituting a 4.5 day workweek and other social welfare programs is yet to be seen.
Despite his populist roots, he’s preached a pro-market approach so far. Considering the country's recent economic instability due to previously listed events and Donald Trump’s previously covered tariffs, this is probably prudent. However, Lee has quite the tightrope to walk. Progressive governments in Korea have typically been against working with Japan for some historical disputes, to put it nicely. However, if they can manage to put aside their differences, there is a lot to be gained. While things have been going better in the region as of late, it’s delicate. South Korea can’t afford to lose the support of either the US or China, their two largest trading partners. With Trump’s 90 day pause on tariffs set to expire on July 9th, the pressure is on. This not to even mention North Korea’s blooming relationship with Russia. Lee has promised to improve relationships with their Northern counterpart, but I’m not holding my breath for that war to end anytime soon.
To conclude, South Korea is going to be a very interesting place to watch for the next 5 years. Lee may get off to a slow start, as he was put into office immediately and hasn’t even picked a full cabinet yet. But South Korea’s parallels to the USA’s situation domestically are tough to miss. Tasked with fixing a slowed economy, healing political divides, and solving a healthcare crisis, Lee may not have time to secure his footing before public opinion begins to sour. On a global level, if the country can successfully navigate a trade war and various diplomatic relationships, South Korea may be in a prime position to establish a foothold on a transitioning world stage for years to come. While President Lee may be anything but clean, if he can navigate treacherous waters successfully, he could be a success story for the ages. If not, well he may just be another victim of the Blue House Curse.