Presidential candidates in South Korea were chosen for the June elections

The two candidates, who will fight them, beat the elections, as the next president of South Korea overcame the great difficulties to reach their whereabouts. Lee Jae-Myung was a teenager agency, his family escaped from spoiled fruits. Kim Moon Soo was imprisoned and tortured by the anti -government activity. They both survived weeks of political and legal turmoil that threatened to raise their presidential offer.

Now, with the start of the official campaign for the June 3 poll on Monday, Mr. Lee and Mr. Kim appeared as a major competitor. They represent the opposite aspects of the political gap that is unlikely to be blocked, although both promised to follow national unity if elected.

It follows the elections Removal Last month, for former President Yoon Sok Yol, who was isolated for his short -term attempt to place South Korea in light of the martial law. As such, the campaign is running less than policies and more as a referendum on Mr. Yun and the right -wing people of the people.

The party did not cut ties with Mr. Yun, who is facing a trial on charges of rebellion. Instead, she deviated to the right by choosing Mr. Kim, former Minister of Labor to Mr. Yun, as his presidential candidate. When members of the Council of Ministers were asked to Mr. Yun during a parliamentary session in December to apologize for the imposition of combat law, Mr. Kim was the only one who refused to stand and bow.

His main rival, Mr. Lee, 60, led in pre -election polls. After winning the nomination of his presidential democratic party by 89.77 percent of the votes, he said: “I have ordered the end of the old era of rebellion and slope and the opening of a new era of hope.”

Each of Mr. Lee and Mr. Kim, 73, had to remove obstacles at the last minute to run for the presidency, which added to the uncertainty that erupted in South Korean policy in recent months.

A criminal charge threatens violations of the election law against Mr. Lee, who denies his eligibility until the Seoul Court postponed a ruling on the case even after the elections.

On the other hand, Mr. Kim won only a basic race to see the leadership of the People’s Party to cancel his candidacy, and moved to replace the former Prime Minister and the President of the Chargé d’Affaires of his Chargé d’Affairs Han Dac SooWhoever claimed a better chance against Mr. Lee. Mr. Kim took a legal action against his party leaders, describing them as a “monster” and accused them of “a political coup.”

But during the weekend, the party members voted to restore the nomination of Mr. Kim, and Mr. Han bowed from the race.

Mr. Kim fought for the healing of his torn party, as he called the same right fear and discontent that prompted Mr. Yoon to Send To the National Assembly controlled by Democrats to try to impose martial law.

Mr. Kim warned that if Mr. Lee wins the presidency, where his party holds a majority in Parliament, he will become a left -wing giant and make South Korea more friendly towards China and North Korea at the expense of its alliance with the United States.

“He is indeed a dictator,” said Mr. Kim, who compared the leaders of North Korea and China. “Who gets 89.77 percent of his party’s support other than Kim Jong Un and Shi Jinping?”

The June elections are an extension of the political struggle launched by Mr. Yoon’s combat law.

“As for the two progresss, ending the rebellion is the dominant issue in the elections,” said Song Duke Hham, a political scientist at the University of Kyungji. “But fear leads the conservatives-for fear that if Lee Jay Meong is elected, he will become an imperial president and destroy their ranks.”

It rises from poverty

Mr. Li Life story It resonates with many in South Korea. When he was a teenager, his eight -year -old family moved to one room Semi -land In the slums south of Seoul. He made his parents to garbage garbage and clean public toilets. After the primary school, he went to work in the baseball glove and other stable factories. His left arm was constantly distorted when he was crushed into the press machine.

Mr. Lee said: “When I saw girls going to school while pushing the dirty father of my father from behind, I felt so shy that I hid behind the corner of the street.” “But my miserable life gave me the power to push forward through difficulties.”

Although he never attended middle or high school, Mr. Lee has passed the college admission exams. He became a lawyer for human rights, mayor, regional ruler, deputies, head of the largest political party for South Korea and twice its presidential candidate. You have survived AttemptIn addition to the criminal charges that almost departed from his political career.

When a mayor, Mr. Lee provided free school uniforms and free postpartum care service. As a ruler, he handed over cash rewards to help young people find jobs or pay the price of tuition fees. He was the first ruler to produce relief payments from the epidemic for all the population.

He also had an aggressive side. During the epidemic, the densely populated province of Jeongji imposed steps of strict social balance that was subsequently adopted by the central government. He also cleaned the scenic valleys by leaving illegal restaurants.

While Mr. Lee was running for the president for the second time (he lost his first attempt against Mr. Yoon in 2022), he tried to expand his appeal between voters in the center by promising not to seek political revenge and work for national unity. He emphasized competence and pragmatism on ideology.

He said: “The cat is a good cat as long as it hunts the mice well.”

To confront the accusations of the conservatives that he is “a supporter of religion and combating America”, Mr. Lee stressed the importance of his country’s alliance with Washington and tripartite cooperation with the United States and Japan for regional security.

Province transformed

But his conservative enemies are still not convinced, describing him as “my popular” ruthless. Mr. Kim benefits from such concerns against the favorite elections to mobilize conservative support. He took a long -standing journey to reach the position in which he is.

Mr. Kim was a famous progressive activist in the 1970s and 1980s. He was expelled twice from Seoul National University because of his anti -government activity. He led a wave of activists who deny workers to build trade unions. He refused to abandon the location of his fellow activists, even in light of the torture by military agents. The labor movement that helped to find it is still a strong political power.

But Mr. Kim was also Mobile.

While many former activists became members of the Democratic Party in the nineties of the last century after the democratic character of the country, Mr. Kim joined the Conservative camp, to become a legislator and ruler of the provinces. He has since said that he abandoned his “revolutionary” and “anti -America” ​​views after monitoring the collapse of the Soviet bloc.

But he suffered from a series of electoral defeats in the past decade. He was mainly known for the extreme right-wing comments-who was once a former liberal president, in support of the North North deserves to be “executed”- Before Mr. Yun Kener chose him at work last year.

Mr. Kim described Mr. Yoon’s combat law as a mistake. However, he blamed the blocking tactics of the left opposition in Parliament for his leadership, Mr. Yun, for this maximum management. If elected, he said it will make South Korea more reliable in Washington and increase deterrence against North Korea. He also said he would work on national harmony.

Mr. Kim said: “If I look at the course of my life, there is nothing that I have not tried, nothing I can understand, no one I cannot embrace.”