Despite the pleadings for reconciliation and a rupture of the cycle of political revenge before and since In South Korea Recent presidential elections, it seems The newly elected president Lee Jae-Myung shows no mercy on his predecessor, the Yeol Yeol Yoon filed, And approved new surveys on the former president and his wife.
Each of the last six South Korean leaders returning to Roh Moo-Hyun, which was elected in 2003, faced criminal investigations by subsequent administrations for their actions in office or for other alleged misdeeds, generally with disastrous consequences.
Roh died by suicide after being accused of corruption while his successor, Lee Myung-Bak, was sentenced after leaving his functions for corruption, embezzlement and tax evasion, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The next occupant of the presidential blue house, Park Geun-Hye, was dismissed in 2016 for influence And given a sentence of 25 years in prison for corruption.
The next full -time president was Moon Jae-in, who was in April 2025, charged with corruption charges Linked to his son -in -law who obtains a job in an airline in a case that is underway.
His replacement was Yoon, who struggled in the polls of opinion in December when he declared a short -lived martial law which now sees it in trial for insurrection.
A wish to break the cycle
At a press conference on May 25, only nine days before the elections, Lee only said that he could end the cycle of political reprisals because he had been at the reception of these attacks.
But Tuesday, a week after the election day, President Lee signed bills forcing surveys on special advice on the Martial Declaration of Yoon – In addition to the judicial case – as well as a probe of his wife, Kim Keon-Hye, suspected of corruption.
“I will admit that I am very disappointed that the same vicious circle of revenge that we have seen in the past is repeated again,” said Kim Sang-Woo, former politician of the South Korean Corean left for New Politics and now a member of the board of directors of Kim Dae-Jung Peace Foundation.
“The People Power Party (PPP) is entirely disarray since the elections and is not an energetic adversary for Lee or the Democratic Party (DP), so this could have been an opportunity for a conciliatory opposition approach, to improve the political situation and move away from the confrontation policy that we have known for so long,” he told DW.
“It is clear that it does not happen and I fear that Lee uses the enormous power he now has for his own gain,” said Kim. “I fear for the country’s political future.”
Lee exercises great power
Lim Eun-Jung, professor of international studies at the National University of Kongju, has similar concerns about the concentration of power in Lee’s hands.
“There were good reasons why each of the former presidents went to prison, but this time, Lee continued to say that he did not want to take revenge,” she said.
“Yoon can deserve an arrest and an indictment for having declared martial law, but launched a special investigation into his wife?”
Kim Sang-Woo, from Kim Dae-Jung Peace Foundation, stresses that Lee himself has been the subject of a number of legal cases dating from 2018 And including the publication of false information on elections and the violation of campaign laws by mensing during a televised debate in 2020.
In 2023, he became the first politician in the service since 1998 to be asked about a criminal case when he was questioned about business donations in exchange for favors.
He was charged with the same year in corruption, corruption, violation of confidence and in conflict of interest on a massive construction project in the city of Seongnaum, where he was previously mayor. He was also accused of having illegally sent $ 8 million (7 million euros) to North Korea through a clothing company.
On June 5, the Supreme Court confirmed a prison sentence for one of Lee’s closest advisers in the case of the North Korean funds, although Lee has constantly managed to delay the decisions that would have made him inadmissible to present himself to the presidential election.
Retarded
On June 9, the High Court of Seoul judged that a new trial on the accusations of violation of the electoral law should be delayed until Lee left the post, because the South Korean constitution disonces a president in exercise of criminal proceedings, except in the event of an insurrection or betrayal.
“Lee has a lot of power now and it is possible that he is trying to protect himself once his mandate finished by adopting new laws,” said Kim. “If he tries to do so, I think it will be very detrimental to his support and the public will be angry, especially the moderates who supported him this time,” he added.
“If the Democratic Party goes through such legislation, then South Korea will be in a situation where politicians will become even more confrontation rather than trying to find ways to reconcile their differences, through dialogue, by compromise.”
Published by: Srinivas Mazumdaru