Lee Jae-myung, the newly elected president of South Korea, has demonstrated remarkable resilience throughout his career. Having endured criminal accusations, a near-fatal stabbing, and a period of martial law imposed by his political adversary, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, Lee now faces arguably his most formidable challenge: guiding a deeply divided nation through significant domestic and international hurdles.
Assuming office following his opponent’s early concession, Lee enters the presidency wielding substantial authority. The South Korean presidency remains one of the most powerful in recent decades, and Lee’s Democratic Party commands a strong majority in the National Assembly, granting him considerable legislative influence.
However, Lee confronts a long list of pressing issues.
Political instability triggered by Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law, followed by his impeachment and removal, has exposed deep rifts within South Korean society — spanning political ideologies, generational divides, and gender lines. At the same time, the country faces intensifying pressure from its sole military ally, the United States, as North Korea’s nuclear threat continues to escalate. The U.S. administration has imposed heavy tariffs on South Korea’s export-driven economy and demanded increased contributions to maintain American troops stationed in the country.
Lee, 61, who rose from working in a sweatshop in his youth to become a charismatic leader of South Korea’s largest political party, criticized the United States’ approach under its second Trump administration as introducing “the law of the jungle” into global affairs. Nonetheless, he vowed to meet these challenges with “pragmatic diplomacy focused on national interests.”
“If necessary, I will go to great lengths for my people,” Lee said of U.S. President Trump. “But I am no pushover. South Korea holds several strategic advantages in negotiations and will use them effectively.”
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