Introduction to the 2025 South Korean Presidential Election
The 2025 South Korean presidential election is gearing up to be a pivotal moment for the nation’s future. Voters are increasingly focused on the visions each candidate offers for South Korea’s future rather than merely who will assume the presidential office. This shift in focus is reflected in the policies proposed by the leading candidates: Lee Jae-myung, Kim Moon-soo, and Lee Jun-seok. Each candidate represents distinct political ideologies and offers varied solutions to the nation’s challenges.
Comparative Analysis of Economic Policies
Lee Jae-myung’s Economic Vision: Lee Jae-myung emphasizes the dual goals of ‘fair distribution’ and ‘practical growth.’ His primary economic proposal is the phased introduction of a basic income system, ensuring that every citizen receives a set income, supported by a detailed financial plan. Additionally, he proposes a land ownership tax to address unearned real estate income, using the proceeds to enhance housing stability and welfare. He also plans to curb the concentration of economic power among conglomerates by banning circular shareholding and regulating unfair trade practices, such as intra-group transactions. Lee’s policies extend to protecting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from technology theft and reforming subcontracting structures.
Kim Moon-soo’s Economic Approach: Kim Moon-soo advocates for ‘labor reform’ and a ‘market-driven economy.’ He supports lowering corporate taxes to stimulate investment and expanding the privatization of public institutions to enhance market efficiency. A key component of his platform is the structural reform of powerful labor unions, promoting open labor markets in the public sector, expanding performance-based pay, and prohibiting political involvement by unions. He prioritizes enhancing the global competitiveness of large corporations over supporting SMEs and highlights the need for economic resilience over excessive welfare spending.
Lee Jun-seok’s Economic Focus: Lee Jun-seok targets the digital economy and youth entrepreneurship, promoting future industries. He aims to move away from a conglomerate-centered industrial structure by easing regulations and expanding tax benefits for startups and SMEs. His policies also include increased funding for youth entrepreneurship, support for non-contact industries, and protection of platform workers’ rights, emphasizing economic independence for younger generations. In real estate, Lee supports easing regulations on multi-homeowners and revising capital gains taxes, placing more trust in market dynamics than in regulatory measures.
Social Welfare and Policy Differences
Lee Jae-myung’s Welfare Agenda: Lee Jae-myung prioritizes universal welfare, strengthening public healthcare by expanding national and regional hospitals to reduce regional disparities. His housing welfare policy, ‘Basic Housing,’ aims to provide stable living conditions for all citizens. In education, his proposals include completing free high school education, increasing government contributions to college tuition, and enhancing childcare systems from preschool through elementary school. His approach underscores ‘government intervention for stabilizing living conditions.’
Kim Moon-soo’s Welfare Philosophy: Kim Moon-soo focuses on self-reliance through employment rather than welfare expansion. He opposes expanding public healthcare and basic income, arguing for the revitalization of private insurance and greater freedom in choosing medical services. In education, he supports parental choice and the autonomy of private schools, advocating for competition rather than regulation to improve educational quality.
Lee Jun-seok’s Welfare Strategy: Lee Jun-seok emphasizes ‘efficiency-led redesign’ over mere welfare expansion. He advocates for expanding physical welfare infrastructure, such as healthcare and childcare, instead of cash welfare. He proposes institutionalizing ‘policy versus effectiveness evaluations’ for welfare spending and seeks to reduce redundancy in welfare delivery through digital administrative restructuring. His youth housing policies include expanding public dormitories and increasing budget allocations for youth rent support.
Foreign Policy and Security Perspectives
Lee Jae-myung’s Diplomatic Approach: Lee Jae-myung centers his foreign policy on restoring the Korean Peninsula peace process and balanced diplomacy in Northeast Asia. He advocates for dialogue and exchange with North Korea to ease tensions, with long-term goals of mutual prosperity. His proposals include restoring the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement and gradually resuming humanitarian aid and projects like the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Kumgang tours. While strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance, he emphasizes self-defense, including the swift transfer of wartime operational control. He plans to maintain strategic cooperation with China and Japan while prioritizing national interests.
Kim Moon-soo’s Security Stance: Kim Moon-soo labels North Korea as a ‘clear adversary,’ opposing negotiations or exchanges aimed at reducing military tensions. He publicly discusses deploying additional THAAD systems and nuclear armament, adhering to a ‘peace through deterrence’ principle. He underscores the South Korea-U.S. alliance as central to national security and advocates expanding military cooperation with Japan. His policies include rooting out ‘pro-North Korean forces’ as part of his foreign and security agenda, preferring a U.S.-centric military strategy over self-reliance.
Lee Jun-seok’s Realistic Security Policy: Lee Jun-seok seeks a pragmatic approach in security, distancing himself from the extreme positions of the major parties. While acknowledging ‘conditional negotiations,’ he emphasizes respecting international sanctions on North Korea. He suggests considering limited economic exchanges if North Korea agrees to freeze its nuclear program and allow inspections. His policies emphasize strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance while maintaining balanced diplomacy with China. In relations with Japan, he advocates separating historical issues from economic cooperation, focusing on practical diplomacy. His proposals also include enhancing digital security and cyber warfare capabilities.
Political Reform and Generational Politics
Lee Jae-myung’s Political Reform Initiatives: Lee Jae-myung identifies prosecutorial reform and preventing the politicization of judicial power as key political reform tasks. His proposals include separating prosecutorial investigation and indictment powers, strengthening the functions of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), and institutionalizing special prosecutors. In parliamentary reform, he suggests limiting parliamentary immunity, reducing privileges, and adjusting the number of lawmakers. He also discusses relocating some parliamentary functions as part of ‘balanced regional development,’ emphasizing expanded fiscal autonomy for local governments.
Kim Moon-soo’s Political Reform Vision: Kim Moon-soo’s political reform centers on the ‘expulsion of left-wing forces.’ He openly calls for removing ‘anti-state and anti-constitutional political forces’ from politics, advocating for legal amendments to dissolve left-leaning parties and penalize anti-state rhetoric. He opposes electoral system reforms, including increasing the number of lawmakers or adopting a mixed-member proportional representation system. His focus is on severing ties between media and civic groups rather than media reform, emphasizing partisan structures over political finance transparency.
Lee Jun-seok’s Ambitious Political Reforms: Lee Jun-seok advocates for transformative political changes, targeting the dismantling of the two-party system through electoral reforms. His key proposals include expanding proportional representation, consolidating electoral districts, and strengthening youth quotas. He emphasizes technology-driven restructuring in party operations, promoting digital platform parties and online voting systems, while ensuring fairness and transparency in candidate selection. His agenda includes legislative and systemic reforms to provide genuine opportunities for young politicians aged 18 and above.
Conclusion and Critical Evaluation
The 2025 South Korean presidential election presents voters with distinct choices among the leading candidates, each offering unique visions for the country’s future. Lee Jae-myung focuses on equitable distribution and government intervention, Kim Moon-soo prioritizes market-driven growth and national security through traditional alliances, and Lee Jun-seok represents a youthful, tech-savvy approach aimed at systemic transformation. These differing strategies highlight the candidates’ ideological divides and offer voters a comprehensive perspective on the potential paths for South Korea’s development.