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Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea’s new president, is a political newcomer who rose to prominence as a prosecutor for his unyielding investigations into some of the country’s most high-profile corruption allegations. He appears to be preparing to steer the world’s tenth-largest economy in a new foreign policy direction, vowing to abandon years of delicate diplomacy and go tough on North Korea.
After winning the election by the smallest margin ever, he has already backed down from some of his most controversial campaign promises, including repealing the Ministry of Gender Equality.
However, his lack of legislative experience may prove costly as he faces a Democratic Party-controlled National Assembly that will almost certainly scrutinize his policies.
Yoon, who was born in Seoul in 1960, studied law and later played a key role in trying to convict former President Park Geun-Hye for abuse of power.
As the country’s top prosecuting attorney in 2019, he also indicated a top aide to outgoing President Moon Jae-in on charges of fraud and bribery, tarnishing the administration’s otherwise impeccable reputation.
Yoon was drawn to the conservative opposition People Power party, which began appeasing him. He ended up winning the party’s primary and was elected president.
Yoon became a conservative “icon” because he was “seen as the best person to outscore the Democratic Party candidate, despite his lack of political leadership experience,” according to Gi-Wook Shin, a Stanford sociology professor.
“That does not bode well for Korean democracy, as further polarisation is possible,” he added.
Politics of conflict
Analysts say South Korean politics is notoriously adversarial, with presidents serving only a single five-year term.
After leaving office, every living former leader has been imprisoned for corruption.
Despite his role in Park’s ouster, Yoon galvanised disgruntled conservative voters by promising “revenge” against Moon, even going so far as to threaten to start investigating Moon for unspecified “irregularities.”
According to taped comments released after a court battle, Yoon’s wife claimed that if her husband won, his critics would be prosecuted because that is “the nature of power.”
According to Keung Yoon Bae, a Korean studies professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, “he and his spouse are more than willing to engage in retaliatory police proceedings into political opponents.”
The outgoing administration’s final order of business was to pass a reform bill that stripped prosecutors of some of their power, in what was widely interpreted as an attempt by officials to avoid being aimed after leaving office.
According to local media, Yoon is truly inspired by British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
