As the opposition leader’s chances of becoming South Korea’s president grow, the image of the fiery anti-American populist is ready to be scrapped.
Unconditional basic income and protection of workers’ rights? We’ll talk about that later…
At his New Year’s press conference on January 23, 2025, Lee Jae-myung emphasized the importance of economic growth supported by the private sector, which contradicts his earlier call for a universal basic income to reduce economic inequality.
In this context, Lee Jae-myung said that he would renege on his pre-election promise to distribute 250,000 won ($171) in vouchers from the state budget to every Korean as part of a program to ensure people had a source of subsistence. Many criticized this promise as a populist move.
Moreover, Lee emphasized that “ideology will not put food on the table” and even quoted the famous phrase that a cat’s color is not as important as its ability to catch mice.
And, while Lee had previously been a staunch supporter of labor laws limiting the workweek to a maximum of 52 hours, he now began to argue that if employees in a particular field don’t mind working overtime, then they should be allowed to do so.
Finally, while the Democrats previously cut the budget as much as possible to spite the government, now, on the contrary, Lee Jae-myung has called on the government to prepare a supplementary budget of at least 30 trillion won ($20.5 billion) to revitalize the national economy and help small businesses.
Lee’s new stance has already been criticized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, calling on Lee to prioritize workers’ rights. They said that the Leader of the Opposition “must eradicate low wages and long working hours in our society and ensure a work-life balance and safety for our workers.”
Give Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize now!
What’s more, it appears that the Democratic Party of Korea has filed papers recommending that the Norwegian Nobel Committee consider nominating US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025. It is certainly true that, despite the difficulties, Trump held high-level talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his first term, and the Democrats hope he “can continue his peacebuilding efforts during his second term.”
This news broke on February 6, 2025, when Democratic lawmaker Park Sung-won was caught on camera sharing a handwritten note with Chairman Lee Jae-myung and parliamentary faction leader Kim Min-seok. The note was apparently written on February 3 during or after Park’s lunch with Joseph Yoon, Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Seoul. It said, “A letter of recommendation for Trump was submitted to the Norwegian committee. This was communicated to the US side and is said to be reported sooner or later to the White House.”
The Korean Democrats’ nomination of Trump for the Nobel Prize came as a surprise to many, given how often the Democratic Party has criticized Yoon Seok-yeol’s foreign policy of strengthening South Korea’s alliance with the US and improving ties with Japan to promote the trilateral partnership. Lee and his entourage have consistently pointed out that Yoon’s US-centric policies have damaged South Korea’s relations with China, Russia, and North Korea, and thus increased geopolitical risks rather than reducing them.
Kang Woo-jin, a professor of political science at Gyeongbuk National University, suggests, however, that Trump’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize is more of a campaign strategy than a shift in foreign policy stance. “Through the Nobel Prize initiative for Trump, I believe he is trying to send a message that he is presidential material, capable of handling complex foreign policy issues through personal diplomacy.”
The attempts to curry favor with the new US president did not end there. On January 21, Democratic Party Rep. Kim Byung-joo headed the drafting and submission of a resolution aimed at strengthening the Korea-US alliance, which was signed by about 80 other DPK lawmakers. It emphasized that the Korea-US alliance is the cornerstone of Korean democracy, economic growth and peace-building efforts on the Korean Peninsula, and that it could be further strengthened during President Trump’s second term. Reading between the lines it is easy to perceive a desire to let Washington know that the Democratic Party of Korea and its leader are ready to cooperate with the United States and are not anti-American.
However, at the same time, Lee Jae-myung proposed the creation of a special parliamentary committee to respond to the Donald Trump administration’s tariff policy, as the imposition of retaliatory tariffs “is a direct blow to South Korean companies that have factories in Canada, Mexico and China,” and “we need to find a way that benefits our companies and national interests.”
What does that mean?
Experts believe that Chairman Lee’s U-turn in economic policy is aimed at appealing to moderate voters, as he is not only the candidate with the highest likelihood of becoming president, but also the one with the highest negative rating: in a poll conducted by polling agency Gongjung in January, in which respondents were asked to name a candidate they would never vote for, Lee topped the list with a staggering 42.1 percent. Thus, he is both the most popular and the most disliked presidential candidate, and his electoral base needs to be expanded. Sung Deuk Hahm, Dean and professor of political science and law at Kyonggi University, notes that “winning the election will depend on Chairman Lee’s ability to attract a wide audience of centrist voters. He is working to establish himself as a pragmatic leader.”
A similar situation applies in relation to the need to gain Washington’s favor. Unlike the pro-American Yoon, Lee has a reputation for favoring equal relations with both the US and China. And that is a concern for US policymakers. Lee therefore faces a number of different challenges. First, he needs to make it clear to Donald Trump right away that Seoul is a reliable partner despite all the past rhetoric. Second, he needs to keep the possible concessions to a minimum: Trump will put pressure on a number of fronts, demanding proof of loyalty. Third, the dialog between Washington and Pyongyang, which the Democrats believe is likely, cannot be allowed to bypass Seoul.
Not coincidentally, after Donald Trump signaled that he may resume talks with Kim Jong-un, Lee Jae-myung called for renewed efforts to resume talks with Pyongyang. However, Lee has also emphasized the need to maintain a high level of readiness to deal with increased military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, citing North Korea’s growing ties with Russia.
The present author is reminded of the situation 20 years ago, when Roh Moo-hyun, whose trademark at first was a pointedly anti-American stance, became president. The left frequently quoted his phrase, “We will not kowtow to the Americans,” but then came January 2003, and US business officials notified their Korean counterparts that South Korea’s approval rating would soon be downgraded, and among the reasons for this increased risk was not only the North Korean nuclear issue, but also the rise of anti-Americanism in the ROK, coupled with rumors that this trend was directly supported by the president. Roh Moo-hyun then almost immediately announced his upcoming visit to the US, called for an end to anti-American protests and held a series of meetings with US military and business officials. It was during his administration that the South Korean military went to help the US for the second time since Park Chung-hee was in power, this time in Iraq.
To return to Lee Jae-myung—that he is in reality a cynical politician is well demonstrated by his latest move. Recently, Lee Jae-myung proposed “the formation, together with all people who respect the values of a democratic republic, of … a coalition of forces to protect the constitutional order, which will fight against the forces that are destroying it.” In essence, this would be an NGO that would have punitive functions, and there has been no such thing in South Korea since Syngman Rhee’s National Youth Corps.
And we should therefore not be fooled by the old slogans—if Lee becomes president, the hopes of easing regional tensions may not be realized.
Konstantin Asmolov, PhD in History, Leading research fellow at the Center for Korean Studies, Institute of China and Modern Asia, Russian Academy of Sciences
