The results of South Korea's 20th presidential election were released on March 10, and Yoon Seok-yue, the presidential candidate of the largest opposition national power, was successfully elected with 48.58% of the vote, and he will succeed Moon Jae-in as south Korean president in May this year.
Yoon Seok-wook will be the first president without parliamentary experience since South Korea was directly elected president, and he won his first public election and sat on the presidential throne in just over 8 months after entering politics.
In more than two decades in South Korea's prosecutorial system, Yoon Seok-woo has sent two former presidents to prison. As a "political amateur", he is often criticized by the outside world for his controversial remarks, and some Korean media call him "South Korea Trump".
After Yoon Seok-yue was elected, the trend of South Korea's relations with China and the United States has attracted much attention. On the morning of the 10th, yin Xiyue had a phone call with US President Biden "quickly" only 5 hours after delivering his victory speech. Yonhap News Agency said that the diplomatic tone of Yoon Seok-wook's government will focus on the United States, and South Korea-China relations may usher in new challenges.
At her first press conference after winning the election, Yin Xiyue said of her China policy that she would establish a bilateral relationship of "mutual respect" with China.
On March 10, 2022 local time, Yoon Seok-yue, who ran on behalf of the National Forces Party, was elected as the new president of South Korea Image source: Visual China
Sending two former presidents to jail and "liquidating" Moon's government
Yoon Seok-wook, 61, graduated from the Faculty of Law at Seoul National University Graduate School in 1988 and has served as director of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office and then as prosecutor general of South Korea, with more than 20 years of experience in the prosecution system.
In 2016, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye's "cronies interfering in politics" scandal fermented, and Yoon Seok-yue served as the head of the special prosecution team, arresting Park Geun-hye, her "girlfriend" Choi Soon-sil, and Lee Jae-yong, vice president of Samsung Electronics.
In 2018, when Yoon Seok-wook was the director of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office, he directed the investigation into the corruption case of former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, and eventually sent Lee Myung-bak to prison. During his tenure, Mr. Yin also prosecuted more than 100 other former officials and corporate executives and led an investigation into fraud by a large conglomerate.
Yin Xiyue was appreciated by Moon Jae-in for actively liquidating accumulated shortcomings. In July 2019, he was promoted by Moon Jae-in to the rank of Attorney General, jumping three levels in a row, becoming the first official to directly rise to the position of Attorney General without leading the High Prosecutor's Office.
But the good times were short-lived. As Moon jae-in pushed for judicial reforms that weakened the power of the prosecution, the contradictions between Yoon Seok-yue and him continued to intensify, and triggered a sensational "legal dispute" in South Korean politics.
Early last year, Mr. Moon also called Mr. Yoon "the attorney general of Mr. Moon's government," but 10 months later, Mr. Yoon became the opposition presidential candidate and "anti-literary vanguard," according to the East Asia Daily.
In March 2021, Yoon Seok-woo resigned as South Korea's Attorney General. On June 29 of the same year, he announced his candidacy for the 20th president of South Korea, joined the National Power Party, the largest opposition party in South Korea, on July 30, and just over three months later, he won the party primary and became the national power party's presidential candidate.
After announcing his candidacy for president of South Korea, Yoon launched a fierce attack on the inappropriate policies of Moon's government. He said it is difficult to enumerate the atrocities committed by the current regime, from income-led growth that ignores economic common sense, housing policies that run counter to markets, denuclearization policies that bury world-class technology, to populist-leaning policies.
He also denounced the regime-based minority power groups for seizing public power, constructing a food chain that paralyzes the sense of responsibility and morality, and "vainly wants to prolong the reign and continue to plunder the people."
On July 25, 2019, Moon Jae-in and Yoon Seok-yue walked in the Blue House Photo source: Korean media
On February 9 this year, Yoon Seok-yue was interviewed by South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo and asked "if he comes to power, will he conduct an investigation into the accumulated shortcomings of the pre-liquidation regime?" he replied: "Of course, liquidation is needed, investigation is needed." In response to questions from the outside world about whether the investigation will turn into political retaliation, Yin Xiyue asked: "The investigation conducted in the early days of his own government was conducted in accordance with constitutional principles, and the investigation of his own unhealthy practices and illegal acts by the next government is retaliation?"
Moon then demanded that Yoon Seok-yue apologize for this remark, asking Yoon Seok-yue to "answer whether he pretended not to see the current government's shortcomings when he was the chief procurator and chief prosecutor of the Central District Procuratorate, or whether he created a problem of accumulated defects out of thin air."
"South Korea Trump"?
Since the 1987 constitutional amendment, South Korea's 13th to 19th presidents have been elected at least once, with most of them as party leaders, and their leadership has been recognized by mainstream political circles, according to Yonhap News Agency. Although the Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung has no parliamentary qualifications, he has served as mayor of Seongnam, governor of Gyeonggi Province and other heads of local governments, and participated in the party primary in the 2017 general election. Yin Xiyue has always been a civil servant in the procuratorate and has no political experience.
The report pointed out that Yoon Seok-yue was able to reach the peak of power in a short period of time, which was widely interpreted as a distrust and resistance of South Korean voters to "Yeouido politics (Yeouido is the political center of South Korea)". During the election, Yin Xiyue, who took the lead in public opinion, has always flaunted that he does not understand mainstream politics, but instead uses "political newcomers who have no faction, no power, and no calculation" as an advantage to publicize. Yin Xiyue stressed that he did not owe any political guests affection, only to the people.
But there are also concerns that leaders who have not been trained by Congress will find it difficult to govern smoothly. Moreover, under the pattern of "the small and large" of the Common Democratic Party occupying more than 170 seats exclusively, Yin Xiyue, who lacks experience in deliberating on state affairs, is likely to face many obstacles in forming a cabinet, establishing party-government relations, and governing the country through consultation.
As a "political amateur", Yin Xiyue is often criticized by the outside world for his controversial remarks.
"Is Yoon Seok-yue the Trump of South Korea?" The Korean Herald, a South Korean-language media outlet, asked in a March 2 article.
Mr. Yoon's opponents argue that he has many similarities with former U.S. President Donald Trump: both have made statements that could offend other countries, praised highly controversial politicians, attacked foreigners, lacked an understanding of feminism, and liked to publish policies on social media that read like slogans.
Last October, for example, Yoon Seok-yue said that "Chun Doo-hwan did a good job politically except for the military coup and the 5.18 incident," sparking an uproar. In January, he posted on Facebook that he "will solve the problem of foreigners putting spoons on the tables of South Korean citizens" and that it will solve the problem of foreigners abusing South Korean health insurance.
In addition, Yoon Seok-yue also proposed to "abolish the Ministry of Women's Families", which once again set off a gender controversy in Korean society. In an interview, he said that gender equality in South Korea is very important, and in the future, there will be no more emphasis on what "women's family department", and it can be changed to "gender equality family department". But the outside world believes that Yin Xiyue is to get the vote of young men in their 20s.
Kevin Gray, a professor of international relations at the University of Sussex, believes that Yin, like Trump, does not have much experience in politics and is more likely to speak out. There are also views that Yoon Seok-wook's tenure may bring more extremism to South Korean politics.
March 9, 2022, Seoul, South Korea, citizens pay attention to the election results Image source: Visual China
China-South Korea relations or welcome new challenges
After Yoon Seok-wook was elected president of South Korea, the direction of South Korea's relations with China and the United States has attracted much attention. Yonhap News Agency said that all parties generally believe that the diplomatic tone of Yoon Seok-yue's government will focus on the United States, and South Korea-China relations may usher in new challenges.
Judging from Yoon Seok-yue's campaign platform, the policy he proposed focuses on strengthening the ROK-U.S. alliance. Judging from its lineup of staff responsible for foreign and security affairs, most of the "Us Pass" such as Congressman Zhao Taiyong and former Second Foreign Minister (Vice Minister) Kim Shenghan are the majority, while the "China Pass" lineup is relatively weak.
In terms of diplomatic security, Yoon Seok-yue first proposed "rebuilding the ROK-US alliance and strengthening the comprehensive strategic alliance", mainly including the Quad Security Dialogue (Quad) and the THAAD anti-missile system, which may become variables in the development of ROK-China relations.
Yin Xiyue said that he will officially participate in the Quadripartite Security Dialogue's Working Group on Vaccines, Climate Change and New Technologies and carry out related cooperation, and seek to formally join the mechanism in the future. Yoon Also proposed to deploy the THAAD system additionally, which was interpreted by the outside world as not continuing the "THAAD three noes" policy elaborated by the Moon Jae-in government in 2017, that is, the South Korean side will no longer deploy a new THAAD system, will not join the US Missile Defense System (MD), and will not seek a military alliance between South Korea, the United States and Japan.
In terms of relations with China, Yoon Seok-yue believes that considering that China is South Korea's largest trading partner and stakeholder, it is important for South Korea to maintain and develop South Korea-China economic cooperation, but it needs to reduce its dependence on China. Some analysts believe that Yin Xiyue may carry out necessary economic cooperation with China, and actively cooperate with the United States to build an alliance united front.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted analysts as saying on the 10th that although Yin Xiyue took advantage of the "anti-China sentiment" in South Korea and promised to more closely embrace the United States, which has a military alliance with South Korea, it is not expected that South Korea's efforts to balance the relationship between the United States and China will not change much.
Yonhap News Agency also said that Yoon Seok-yue's campaign platform includes plans to promote South Korea-China dialogue, arguing that China is South Korea's largest trading partner and that the two countries share a common goal in resolving the North Korean nuclear and missile issue. Therefore, it is necessary for the ROK to maintain and develop cooperative relations with the Chinese side and will promote diplomatic work with China on the basis of mutual respect and cooperation. There is a view that Yoon Seok-wook's government will not side with the United States and will not act in South Korea-China relations. The new administration will be "humble" in its diplomacy with China, but will try to avoid bilateral relations deteriorating to an irreparable level.
In terms of attitude toward North Korea, Yoon Seok-yue believes that the South Korean government should be tougher. "If North Korea launches a nuclear provocation, the South Korean side will have no other way but to strike pre-emptively." He said at a New Year's news conference on Jan. 11.
It is worth mentioning that at about 10:10 a.m. on March 10, just five hours after Yin Xiyue delivered his victory speech, he spoke on the phone with US President Biden. This is Yin Xiyue's first agenda after his election. It is reported that Yin Xiyue originally planned to talk to Biden on the phone on the 11th, but at the request of the US side, he called in advance in the morning of the same day.
Yonhap News Agency said that compared with the time when previous elects called with the US president, this time the ROK and the United States belong to the "rapid" call. The analysis believes that in the context of the severe international situation such as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the call is intended to highlight the unbreakable alliance between the ROK and the United States.
On the morning of the 10th, Yin Xiyue held his first press conference after being elected president, and he said that he would establish a bilateral relationship of "mutual respect" with China and a "future-oriented" relationship with Japan. On the North Korean issue, Yoon Seok-yue said that he would "severely" deal with any "illegal or unreasonable behavior" of the North Korean side in accordance with the principles, but the window for dialogue with north Korea would be "always open."
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.