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South Korean politics has many individuals with the surname Lee. This includes Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Lee Jun-seok, a former conservative leader who began his independent career at age 38, and Lee Nak-yon, who is on his way to become the leader of a breakaway faction. The 71-year-old former DPK chairman, a four-term lawmaker, served as prime minister from 2017 to 2020 during the Moon Jae-in administration. As both premier and party leader, Lee demonstrated his competence as an administrator…

Back in the summer of 2022, factional infighting in the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) had gotten so out of hand that interim party chief Woo Sang-ho suggested getting rid of insults such as the word “watermelon.” In South Korea, this is considered a significant insult, despite its seemingly minor nature. For instance, the term ’banana’ is sometimes used as an insult towards American or overly Westernized South Koreans, implying that they are “yellow on the outside but white on the inside.”…

During a ceremony held on January 6, 2024 to mark the 100^th anniversary of the birth of former President Kim Dae-jung, who led the country from 1998-2003, leading politicians from rival parties called for “unity and tolerance” to bring harmony into society deeply divided by “extremist politics”. “Politics is now mired in confrontation, antagonism and division,” National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, co-chair for the event, said in his congratulatory speech. “What former President Kim would have wanted from us was, of course, national unity,” he said. Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who also serves as a co-chair, said the politics had partly instigated distrust and hatred, stressing that “national unity and solidarity” were the only way to overcome crises…