Overview of the 2025 South Korean Presidential Election
As the 2025 South Korean presidential election gears up, the focus has shifted from a mere popularity contest to a substantive debate on the future direction of the nation. The leading candidates, Lee Jae-myung, Kim Moon-soo, and Lee Jun-seok, offer distinct visions that reflect their political ideologies and party platforms. In this article, we will delve into their major policy proposals across various sectors, offering a comprehensive comparison to aid voters in making informed decisions.
Economic Policy: Divergent Visions for South Korea’s Future
Each candidate offers a unique approach to economic management, reflecting broader ideological divides.
Lee Jae-myung’s Economic Vision
Lee Jae-myung focuses on equitable income distribution alongside sustainable growth. His flagship proposal is the phased introduction of a basic income, ensuring a guaranteed minimum income for all citizens. This policy is underpinned by specific funding plans, including the introduction of a land ownership tax to curb real estate speculation and fund social welfare initiatives. Additionally, Lee advocates for stricter regulations on corporate monopolies and unfair subcontracting practices, aiming to support SMEs and promote fair competition.
Kim Moon-soo’s Economic Strategy
Kim Moon-soo prioritizes labor reforms and a market-driven economy. He proposes reducing corporate taxes to stimulate investment and advocates for privatizing public enterprises to enhance market efficiency. His platform includes structural reforms to empower labor markets, such as opening public sector jobs, expanding performance-based pay, and restricting political involvement by labor unions. Kim’s economic policy leans towards boosting the global competitiveness of large corporations over direct support for SMEs.
Lee Jun-seok’s Economic Approach
Lee Jun-seok emphasizes the digital economy and youth entrepreneurship. He proposes deregulating and providing tax incentives to startups and small businesses, aiming to transition from a conglomerate-driven economy to one fostering innovation. Lee’s policy includes increased funding for youth entrepreneurship, support for remote industries, and protection of platform workers’ rights. His real estate policy considers easing restrictions on multiple property owners and revisiting property transfer taxes to encourage market dynamics.
Welfare and Social Policies: Balancing Government Intervention and Individual Responsibility
Welfare policies reveal the ideological contrasts among the candidates.
Lee Jae-myung’s Welfare Initiatives
Lee advocates for comprehensive welfare policies, focusing on public healthcare and housing. His plans include expanding national and regional hospitals to reduce healthcare disparities and introducing ‘basic housing’ to ensure stable living conditions for all. In education, Lee supports free high school education, increased state responsibility for university tuition, and enhanced childcare systems, aiming for government-led stability in essential services.
Kim Moon-soo’s Welfare Philosophy
Kim Moon-soo emphasizes self-reliance through work, opposing expansive welfare systems like public healthcare or basic income. Instead, he supports private insurance and patient choice in healthcare. In education, Kim advocates for parental choice and private school autonomy, favoring market competition to improve educational quality over regulatory approaches.
Lee Jun-seok’s Welfare Reforms
Lee Jun-seok promotes efficiency-driven welfare redesign, focusing on expanding physical infrastructure in healthcare and childcare over direct cash benefits. He plans to institutionalize performance evaluations of welfare policies and reduce redundant spending through digital governance reforms. His youth housing policies include expanding public dormitories and increasing budget allocations for youth rent support.
Foreign Policy and National Security: Balancing Diplomacy and Defense
Foreign policy strategies highlight the candidates’ differing approaches to North Korea and regional diplomacy.
Lee Jae-myung’s Diplomatic Strategy
Lee Jae-myung champions pragmatic diplomacy centered on restoring the Korean Peninsula peace process and balancing regional powers. He advocates for resuming inter-Korean dialogue and economic cooperation, such as reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Kumgang tourism, while maintaining a strong U.S.-Korea alliance and pursuing self-reliant defense capabilities.
Kim Moon-soo’s Security Doctrine
Kim Moon-soo views North Korea as a clear adversary and opposes engagement without denuclearization. He supports the deployment of additional THAAD systems and even considers nuclear armament, emphasizing deterrence through military strength. Kim underscores the U.S.-Korea alliance as central to national security and seeks to expand military cooperation with Japan, focusing on countering perceived pro-North Korean influences domestically.
Lee Jun-seok’s Pragmatic Foreign Policy
Lee Jun-seok adopts a realist stance, supporting conditional negotiations with North Korea while adhering to international sanctions. He proposes limited economic exchanges contingent on nuclear freeze and inspections, advocating for a balanced foreign policy that strengthens the U.S.-Korea alliance while engaging with China. Lee’s approach to Japan emphasizes separating historical issues from economic cooperation, promoting practical diplomacy.
Political Reforms: Reshaping the Democratic Landscape
The candidates’ political reform agendas reflect their visions for South Korea’s democratic evolution.
Lee Jae-myung’s Reform Agenda
Lee Jae-myung focuses on judicial reforms to prevent political interference, advocating for the separation of prosecutorial powers and strengthening the role of the Corruption Investigation Office. He proposes limiting parliamentary privileges and adjusting the number of legislators, along with decentralizing government functions to promote regional balance.
Kim Moon-soo’s Political Strategy
Kim Moon-soo’s reforms target the elimination of left-wing political forces, calling for legal amendments to disband anti-state parties and penalize subversive speech. He opposes electoral system changes like increasing legislative seats or adopting proportional representation, focusing instead on severing ties between NGOs and political entities.
Lee Jun-seok’s Vision for Political Change
Lee Jun-seok advocates for dismantling the duopoly of major political parties through electoral reforms, including expanding proportional representation and consolidating electoral districts. He emphasizes digital transformation in party operations and transparent candidate selection processes, seeking to empower young politicians through legislative changes that guarantee opportunities for those over 18 years old.