Yoon Suk-yeol, a former attorney general new to politics, was elected president of South Korea on March 10, narrowly defeating the candidate of the center-left ruling party.

Yoon Suk-yeol, candidate of the People's Power Party (PPP), the main right-wing opposition party, won with 48.59% of the vote against 47.79% for his Democratic Party rival Lee Jae -myung, according to results covering 98% of the votes published by the Yonhap news agency.

The South Korean presidential election has only one round.

"This is the victory of the great South Korean people," said Yoon Suk-yeol to his jubilant supporters, gathered at dawn in the National Assembly.

desire for revenge

Her victory on the wire marks a spectacular comeback for the PPP, hard hit in 2017 by the dismissal and then the imprisonment for abuse of power of President Park Gung-hye, who belonged to this formation.

Paradoxically, Yoon Suk-yeol, then prosecutor in Seoul, had played a key role in the investigation which had led to the fall of the ex-president.

Analysts say Wednesday's presidential outcome could rekindle what the media have dubbed the "revenge cycle", a feature of the extreme polarization of political life in this country of 52 million people, where all South Korean ex-presidents still alive have served time in prison for corruption at the end of their terms of office.

Yoon Suk-yeol, 61, will take over for five years in May from outgoing President Moon Jae-in, who could not stand for re-election.

And he has already promised to order an investigation into his predecessor – who had appointed him Attorney General at the start of his term – without specifying on what grounds.

Sexist remarks

Completely new to politics, Yoon Suk-yeol was chosen in June to represent the PPP, the main right-wing opposition party.

He campaigned by proposing a relaxation of labor law, targeting in particular the minimum wage and the maximum working time.

He also stood out with praise for former South Korean dictator Chun Doo-hwan.

An assumed anti-feminist, he notably denied the existence of systematic and amply proven discrimination suffered by women in South Korea.

He also promised to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality, whose missions include combating domestic violence and human trafficking.

With AFP

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_EN