Talk Of A 'Monster Dictatorship' Sets Tone As Korean Vote Looms

2025-05-29 03:13:39

(MENAFN- Asia Times) With presidential election day coming on June 3, South Korea's political landscape is reaching a fever pitch. As of May 29, election law prohibits the release of new opinion polls, meaning the electorate will head into the final stretch blind to any last-minute shifts.

Polls conducted on May 28 reveal inconsistent results. One survey shows opposition Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung with 43.6% support, just ahead of ruling party candidate Kim Moon-soo's 42.7%.

Another puts Lee at 46% and Kim at 41%.

A third poll has Lee with a significant lead of 49.2%, compared with Kim's 36.8%.

The variation underscores deep voter uncertainty and the increasingly unpredictable nature of this election.

Former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak have both thrown their weight behind Kim Moon-soo, the candidate from the conservative People Power Party. Their endorsements cement Kim's position as the standard-bearer for the conservative establishment.

'To prevent the rise of a monstrous dictatorship '

Then came a political bombshell on May 27: Lee Nak-yon – former prime minister under Moon Jae-in, prominent figure in the pro-Moon faction and one-time leader of the Democratic Party – endorsed Kim Moon-soo .

Now serving as chairman of the New Future Democratic Party, Lee publicly declared on May 29,“After deep deliberation, I came to the conclusion that Kim Moon-soo, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is indispensable if we are to prevent the rise of a monstrous dictatorship.”

He continued,“Faced with a national crisis – the emergence of a monster dictatorship – I believe we must transcend our differences of faction, ideology, and region.”

According to Lee, such a regime would represent a historic rupture:“A monster dictatorship means a situation unprecedented since the founding of the Republic, where one individual seizes control of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.”

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