2022 South Korean presidential election

2022 South Korean presidential election
← 2017 9 March 2022 (2022-03-09) 2027 →
Opinion polls
Registered44,197,692
Turnout77.08% (Decrease 0.15pp)[1]
 
Nominee Yoon Suk Yeol Lee Jae-myung
Party People Power Democratic
Popular vote 16,394,815 16,147,738
Percentage 48.56% 47.83%
President before election

Moon Jae-in
Democratic

Elected President

Yoon Suk Yeol
People Power

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Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 9 March 2022. Under the South Korean constitution, presidents are restricted to a single five-year term, meaning that incumbent president Moon Jae-in was ineligible to run for a second term. Opposition candidate Yoon Suk Yeol of the People Power Party won the election,[2] defeating candidate Lee Jae-myung of the incumbent Democratic Party.[3]

Both main parties had unusually intense primary elections. Upon its nomination of Lee Jae-myung, the second-place Democratic Party candidate Lee Nak-yon called for an appeal of the results, until being forced to concede. In the PPP, frontrunner Yoon and party chairman Lee Jun-seok frequently clashed over Yoon's performance and perceived apathy towards debates with other candidates. The People Party nominated Ahn Cheol-soo and the Justice Party nominated Sim Sang-jung.

Economic inequality, recovery from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, antifeminist sentiment and housing issues were prominent topics during the election. Analysts observed increased political polarization, record low popularity amongst the candidates, infighting within both main political parties, as well as a negative or divisive tone throughout campaigning. After discussing a potential merger for some time,[4][5] Ahn withdrew his campaign on 3 March, 6 days before the election, and endorsed Yoon.[6]

In the closest presidential election in South Korean history, Yoon won the most overall votes and the key areas of Seoul, but lost in Gyeonggi and Incheon.

  1. ^ "중앙선거관리위원회 선거통계시스템". info.nec.go.kr.
  2. ^ Hyun-woo, Nam (9 March 2022). "Yoon Suk-yeol wins presidential election". The Korea Times. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  3. ^ Sang-Hun, Choe (9 March 2022). "Live Updates: Opposition's Yoon Wins Tight Race for South Korean Presidency". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
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