Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung defeated the ruling right-wing People Power Party in South Korea鈥檚 presidential elections. However, the DP鈥檚 failure to win an absolute majority leaves the new government in a troublesome position, writes Youngsu Won.
Youngsu Won is a socialist and coordinator of the International Forum in South Korea. Speaking to 91自拍论坛鈥檚 Federico Fuentes, he discusses how rising tensions between the United States and China impact South Korean politics.
The Hanoi summit ended in a tragic-comic fiasco, writes Youngsu Won.
The historic candlelight movement of 2016-17 that brought down the corrupt government of president Park Geunhye finally turned South Korea from one of the most reactionary anti-communist regime into a normal democracy. However, the recent debate over Yemenis refugees has revealed the naked face of deep-seated racism of many Koreans, writes Youngsu Won.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and United States President Donald Trump met at a historic summit in Singapore on June 12 that concluded with a joint statement. Those who want peace and denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula have welcomed the success of the summit. Though the end of the war has not been declared, a decisive step towards complete denuclearisation and an end to mutual hostilities has been taken.
This winter has been extremely cold in South Korea, with temperatures regularly reaching well below -10掳C 鈥 perhaps another sign of climate change.
Will a verbal war between a senile dotard and a little rocket man result in an actual war? Probably not, but at the moment, the risk is unprecedented.
The reason it remains unlikely is simply because the consequences of any actions are so catastrophic. Right now, this is the only deterrent to war.
Moon Jae-in, of the liberal Democratic Party, won South Korea鈥檚 May 9 presidential election with 41% of the vote, easily defeating his arch-conservative opponent Hong Jun-pyo, who won about 24%.
The elections took place after the impeachment of conservative president Park Geun-hye for her involvement in a huge corruption scandal. Park, from Hong鈥檚 right-wing Saenuri Party (renamed Liberty Korea Party in a bid to rebrand), was forced out by the huge 鈥淐andlelight Revolution鈥. Millions of Koreans mobilised in an ongoing series of candlelight protests to demand her impeachment.
The elections also took place in a context of the threat of war in the Korean Peninsula with US President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration ratcheting up tensions with North Korea.
At 11.22am on March 10, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Lee Jeingmi announced the court had unanimously decided to dismiss President Park Geun-hye. With that, after a 92-day trial, Park鈥檚 presidency was over.
