President Lee Jae-myung’s term began at 6:21 a.m. on June 4.
President Lee received 17.287,513 votes (49.42 percent), outpacing Kim Moon-soo (14,395,639 votes, 41.15 percent) by 2.89 million votes (8.27 percentage points). Lee Joon-seok, presidential candidate of the New Reform Party, followed with 2,917,523 votes (8.34 percent). The final voter turnout in the latest presidential election stood at 79.4 percent, the highest in 28 years since the 15th presidential election (80.7 percent) in 1997.
In the presidential election, which was held due to former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s dismissal, President Lee won 1.59 percentage points over the previous presidential record (47.83%). President Lee’s expected vote rate was 51.7 percent in an exit poll by three terrestrial broadcasters (KBS, MBC, and SBS), raising the possibility of “over-voting”, but it was not successful as the gap in the vote share with candidate Kim Moon-soo narrowed during the counting process. President Lee Jae-myung took the stage in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul at 1:12 a.m. on the same day and said, “I sincerely thank the citizens of the Democratic Republic of Korea,” adding, “I will never forget the president’s responsibility to integrate the people greatly.”
At the meeting, President Lee promised to overcome the civil war, restore people’s livelihoods, secure people’s lives, and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. “I will not forget the mission that you expect from me for a moment, and I will make sure to fulfill it without any deviation from the mission,” he said. “I will certainly overcome the first mission that you entrust to me, the civil war, and never again have a military coup that threatens the people with the sword that the people entrusted to me.”
President Lee then promised, “The second is to revive the economy and restore people’s livelihoods,” adding, “We will do our best to restore your painful life in the earliest possible time.”
“Third, the state must be responsible for the lives and safety of its people,” he said. “The massive disaster (in the last period) caused countless people to leave,” President Lee said. “We will make sure to make a safe country that fully fulfills the country’s first responsibility to protect the lives and safety of its people.”
“For the fourth time, we will create a stable, peaceful and coexisting Korean Peninsula,” Lee said. He added, “We will work together to find a way for coexistence and common prosperity between the two Koreas with confidence that real security is to create peace that does not need to fight rather than to fight and win, while exercising deterrence against North Korea with solid defense power.”
Finally, the Korean people are colleagues who must respect each other and live together in the community, President Lee said. “We will create a true community that lives happily together.”
As the early presidential election takes place due to the dismissal of former President Yoon, Lee will immediately start running state affairs without preparation period through the presidential transition committee. The Democratic Party plans to set up a state affairs planning advisory committee as soon as possible to prepare for the new administration’s policy blueprint.
President Lee is expected to start forming a cabinet on the same day, starting with the nomination of a presidential chief of staff and a prime minister candidate. He has reportedly appointed Kim Min-seok, the highest ranking member of the Democratic Party, as the new government’s first prime minister. Kang Hoon-sik, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party, has been reportedly chosen as the presidential chief of staff.
Meanwhile, candidate Kim Moon-soo visited the central headquarters of the People’s Power in Yeouido, Seoul, at 1:35 a.m. and declared his acceptance, saying, “I will humbly accept the people’s choice.” Candidate Kim Moon-soo said, “Congratulations to the elected candidate Lee Jae-myung,” and added, “I will not forget the warm support from the people who have sent me so far.”
As the early presidential election takes place due to the dismissal of former President Yoon, Lee will immediately start running state affairs without preparation period through the presidential transition committee. The Democratic Party plans to set up a state affairs planning advisory committee as soon as possible to prepare for the new administration’s policy blueprint.
President Lee is expected to start forming a cabinet on the same day, starting with the nomination of a presidential chief of staff and a prime minister candidate. He has reportedly appointed Kim Min-seok, the highest ranking member of the Democratic Party, as the new government’s first prime minister. Kang Hoon-sik, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party, has been reportedly chosen as the presidential chief of staff. Meanwhile, candidate Kim Moon-soo visited the central headquarters of the People’s Power in Yeouido, Seoul, at 1:35 a.m. and declared his acceptance, saying, “I will humbly accept the people’s choice.” Candidate Kim Moon-soo said, “Congratulations to the elected candidate Lee Jae-myung,” and added, “I will not forget the warm.
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
