Conservative Election Win in South Korea Shows Hawkish Turn

Former top prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol won election as South Korea’s president, returning the conservative opposition to power after five years and signaling a hawkish turn in the country’s relations with China and North Korea.

The political newcomer edged out former Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung by less than one percentage point, the country’s closest presidential contest ever. Yoon, 61, resigned from President Moon Jae-in’s government last year after a falling out over investigations into the leader’s associates, and the election campaign was dominated by party infighting, ethical scandals and emotional debates over age and gender divides in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

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“Yoon’s immediate challenge will be dealing with a deeply divided country that largely either detests him or voted for him only because they detested Lee even more,” said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow in Seoul at the Center for a New American Security.

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