¡°It is our generation¡¯s calling to build a nation that espouses liberal democracy and ensures a thriving market economy, a nation that fulfills its responsibility as a trusted member of the international community, and a nation that truly belongs to the people,¡± is the words of Yoon Suk-yeol at his inaugural as the 20th President of South Korea after winning the elections against Lee Jae-myung.?
Given the state of the country it will be a? tough time settling in for the new President compared to his predecessor.
The conservative President needs to address the covid-19 pandemic given the omicron surge, the North Korean Nuclear tests, and a weakening economy among others.?
Yoon Suk-yeol was a former state prosecutor before turning to politics.
?He is the first president to take office who was born after the Korean War.
His election victory is on a meager 0.73 percent difference and the President has a lot to prove to his people in the next five years.
His term is starting off with changes in the country. The first one being the change of President¡¯s office from the historic Cheong Wa Dae, also known as the Blue house to the former Defense Ministry building in Yongsan-gu.
The Republic of Korea has a unique and unflattering history of heads of state.?
The country has seen President¡¯s committing suicide, military coups, convictions in regards to corruption during office and autocracy.
President Chun Doo-hwan, the fifth President of South Korea was compelled to embrace the people's demand for a direct presidential election system in 1987 after national pro-democracy protests.?
With a clause in the Constitution, lawmakers limited the presidential term to a single five-year term, which was affirmed by referendum and took effect in February 1988.
In South Korea, presidents are elected directly and each term has traditionally been seen as a separate presidency.?
That means, for example, Syngman Rhee, the country's first president, is the first, second, and third president.?
This is in contrast to other countries like the United States, where the presidency is measured by how many persons have held it, regardless of how many terms they have served.
This is why the new President is considered the 20th President of the country even though only 12 people had held the position.?
A growing concern that the new President faces is the recent nuclear tests on the other side of the 38th parallel in the peninsula.
Moon Jae-in, his predecessor, adopted a strategy of engagement with North Korea, conducting a meeting with Kim in 2018. Before ties soured in 2019, he also orchestrated two summits between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump. Since then, talks on denuclearization have been stuck.?
¡°While North Korea¡¯s nuclear weapon programmes are a threat not only to our security and that of Northeast Asia, the door to dialogue will remain open so that we can peacefully resolve this threat¡± is what Yoon Suk-yeol said while addressing the people at his inaugural.?
Since coming to office, his team has hinted on restarting talks with Pyongyang but this comes as a compliment after having a strong South Korean capability of deterrence.?
This could mean leaning towards the US for its missile defense system but this stance would also instigate China¡¯s concern given the previous intention to deploy the Thaad system in 2017 met by Beijing¡¯s? retaliation economically.
In addition to the security threat, the omicron surge has sent the people into isolation and the President needs to navigate a way through it while keeping up with the housing problem as he promised to push the private sector to create jobs and build millions of new houses.?
The Korea Herald. ¡°Constitution bars presidents from seeking reelections in S. Korea: Why?¡± 10 May 2022.
The Korea Herald. ¡°Five things about S. Korea¡¯s new president.¡± 10 May 2022.
The Korean Herald. ¡°Inauguration day.¡± 10 May 2022.
McCurry, Justin. ¡°Conservative candidate squeaks to victory in South Korean election.¡± The Guardian, 9 March 2022. Accessed 15 May 2022.
McCurry, Justin. ¡°South Korea election contenders neck and neck, according to exit polls.¡± The Guardian, 9 March 2022. Accessed 15 May 2022.
¡°New South Korean president takes office, briefed on North Korea - Times of India.¡± Times of India, 10 May 2022. Accessed 15 May 2022.
¡°Yoon Suk-yeol takes office as South Korea's new president.¡± Al Jazeera, 10 May 2022. Accessed 15 May 2022.