Yoon Suk-yeol is already unpopular
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskPetty point-scoring is not new to South Korean politics. High office attracts forensic scrutiny. It will soon become routine for Mr Yoon. Shark fin or not, he will have a lot on his plate after inauguration day. He must tackle many problems, including astronomical housing costs and the frustrations of young people who are well-educated but underemployed.
And that is just at home. Mr Yoon must also deal with a dangerous world. He hopes to draw closer to America, but also wants to avoid antagonising China, his country’s largest trading partner. He has promised a harder line on North Korea, which has been increasingly bellicose in recent months, launching yet another missile on May 4th, just days before the inauguration.
Such Herculean ambitions would be challenging for the most experienced and popular of leaders. Mr Yoon is neither. In 2016 his role in the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, a disgraced former president, on corruption charges earned him a promotion to chief prosecutor under Moon Jae-in, her successor. In that job Mr Yoon zealously pursued figures in Mr Moon’s government, bolstering his own anti-corruption credentials.
Mr Yoon has promised a “fair administration that does not allow privileges or foul play”. The public is sceptical about this claim, given the various allegations that tainted him and his family during the unedifying campaign, not to mention those flung at his opponent. Despite his frequent claims to embody the will of the people, he won the election on March 9th with a margin of only 0.7%, the narrowest in the history of modern Korean democracy.
As if his historic unpopularity and long to-do list did not pose enough of a challenge, Mr Yoon also faces a third impediment: his party does not have a majority in the National Assembly. Barring a mass defection, the Minjoo party, which holds 168 of 300 seats, will control the legislature at least until elections in 2024. It can block Mr Yoon’s bills and try to force through its own. But the presidential veto is a trump card—the opposition lacks the numbers to overturn it.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rugby powers to hold talks on new global north v south tournamentRugby chiefs are poised to hold key discussions on Tuesday over the proposal to radically shake up the international calendar and introduce a new global competition to be played every two years
Read more »
Virginia Woolf is inspiring South Korean feminists'“I had no role models.” As a 20-something, Kim Jina’s idea of what a successful woman looked like came straight from “Sex and the City”
Read more »
Australia: 50kg of cocaine found near body of diver on riverbank in New South WalesAustralian police are investigating after 50kg of suspected cocaine was discovered near the body of a diver on a riverbank in New South Wales
Read more »
South Korea’s new president offers North economic plan in return for denuclearisationElected in a tight contest in March, Yoon Suk-yeol proposes ‘audacious’ plan for Pyongyang at his inauguration in Seoul
Read more »
Beautiful South singer Paul Heaton pays for birthday drinksBeautiful South singer Paul Heaton puts money behind bar at 60 pubs to celebrate his 60th birthday
Read more »