[President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol] 20th President Yoon Suk-yeol... "National Unity is the Top Priority"

0.73% Point 'Smallest Margin Ever'
People's Choice is 'Regime Change'
Transition Committee Chair Ahn Cheol-soo Likely

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Naju-seok and Kang Ju-hee] The public ultimately chose a change of government. Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, was elected as the 20th president after a nail-bitingly close election. President-elect Yoon has begun official activities as the president-elect, including phone calls with President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden.

With the vote counting completed on the 10th, President-elect Yoon won the presidential election by securing 16.39 million votes, which is 48.6% of the total valid votes, narrowly ahead of Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, who received 16.14 million votes, by a margin of 0.7 percentage points. Shim Sang-jung, the Justice Party presidential candidate, received 2.4% of the votes.

President-elect Yoon won by a margin of only 247,077 votes, the smallest margin since the direct presidential election system was introduced in 1987. The previous record was set in the 15th presidential election in 1997, when Kim Dae-jung, then the candidate of the New Politics National Conference, defeated Lee Hoi-chang of the Grand National Party by 390,557 votes. Moreover, the fact that the cycle of political power alternation between conservative and progressive governments, which had been occurring every ten years, has shortened is a new change in Korean political history.

The defining feature of this presidential election was a country divided into two extremes. According to the final vote count and exit polls, support bases were clearly divided by region, gender, and generation, revealing sharp conflicts through the election. Candidates Lee secured the majority of votes from those in their 40s and 50s, while President-elect Yoon won the majority of votes from those aged 60 and above. Among voters in their 20s and 30s, support varied by gender, with gender-related issues playing a dominant role. Despite President-elect Yoon’s outreach to Honam and the Democratic Party selecting a presidential candidate from Daegu-Gyeongbuk (TK), the barrier of regionalism remained high.

Perhaps aware of these concerns, upon arriving at the party headquarters, President-elect Yoon stated, "With the mindset that all our people are one, I will prioritize national unity." He added, "Since the change of government is to create a better country, I ask everyone to join forces and think only of our country and its people with one heart." Given the current situation of a minority government, President-elect Yoon is expected to cooperate with the opposition party to appoint the prime minister and cabinet members, revise the government organization law, and implement key pledges such as support and compensation for small business owners as the new government launches.

Experts also emphasized the need for renewed efforts toward unity but predicted that cooperation might be difficult since local elections are scheduled for June 1, shortly after the new government takes office. Kim Bong-shin, CEO of Metavoice, said, "Given the election result with the smallest margin in history, politics of cooperation and unity have become even more necessary. During the election campaign, there were extreme remarks and pledges, but now efforts reflecting public opinion and popular sentiment are required in governance." Kim added, "Unconditional cooperation is necessary for livelihood issues such as COVID-19 support, but political clashes are inevitable due to the local elections coinciding with the new government’s launch." Shin Yul, professor of political science and diplomacy at Myongji University, predicted, "With the narrow gap between first and second place, President-elect Yoon must win the local elections to gain momentum for governance."

Meanwhile, President-elect Yoon is expected to quickly finalize the merger with the People’s Party and launch a transition committee to ensure a stable transfer of government. In this regard, it is reported that President-elect Yoon will propose People’s Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo as the head of the transition committee.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.