South Korea: Can new president end 'revenge politics'?

Despite pleas for reconciliation and a break from the cycle of political revenge before and since South Korea's recent presidential elections, it appears newly elected President Lee Jae-myung is showing no mercy to his predecessor, the deposed Yoon Suk Yeol, and has approved new investigations into the former president and his wife.

Each of the last six South Korean leaders going back to Roh Moo-hyun, who was elected in 2003, has faced criminal investigations by subsequent administrations for their actions in office or for other alleged wrongdoings, usually with disastrous consequences.

Roh died by suicide after being accused of bribery while his successor, Lee Myung-bak, was convicted after leaving office for bribery, embezzlement and tax evasion, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The next occupant of the presidential Blue House, Park Geun-hye, was impeached in 2016 for influence-peddling and given a 25-year prison term for corruption.

The next full-time president was Moon Jae-in, who was in April 2025 indicted on corruption charges related to his son-in-law obtaining a job at an airline in a case that is ongoing.

His replacement was Yoon, who was struggling in the public opinion polls in December when he declared a short-lived martial law that now sees him on trial for insurrection.

A vow to break the cycle

In a press conference on May 25, just nine days before the election, Lee said only he could end the cycle of political retaliation, as he had been on the receiving end of such attacks.

But on Tuesday, one week after election day, President Lee signed bills mandating special counsel investigations into Yoon's declaration of martial law — in addition to the court case that is ongoing — as well as a probe of his wife, Kim Keon-hye, on suspicion of corruption.

"I am going to admit that I am very disappointed that the same vicious cycle of revenge we have seen in the past is repeating again," said Kim Sang-woo, a former politician with the left-leaning South Korean Congress for New Politics and now a member of the board of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation.

"The People Power Party (PPP) is in complete disarray since the election and is not a forceful adversary for Lee or the Democratic Party (DP), so this could have been an opportunity for a conciliatory approach to the opposition, to improve the political situation and move away from the confrontational politics that we have experienced for so long," he told DW.

"It is clear that is not happening and I worry that Lee will use the huge power that he now has for his own gain," Kim said. "I fear for the country's political future."

Lee wields great power

Lim Eun-jung, a professor of international studies at Kongju National University, has similar concerns about the concentration of power in Lee's hands.

"There were good reasons why each of the former presidents went to prison, but this time Lee kept saying that he did not want revenge," she said.

"Yoon may deserve arrest and indictment for declaring martial law, but was launching a special investigation into his wife necessary?"

Kim Sang-woo, of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation, points out that Lee himself has been the subject of a number of legal cases dating back to 2018 and including publishing false information over elections and breaching campaign laws by lying during a televised debate in 2020.

In 2023, he became the first serving politician since 1998 to be questioned about a criminal case when he was quizzed over corporate donations in return for favours.

He was indicted the same year on bribery, corruption, breach of trust and conflict of interest charges over a massive construction project in the town of Seongnam, where he was previously mayor. He has also been accused of illegally funnelling $8 million (€7 million) to North Korea through a clothing company.

On June 5, the Supreme Court confirmed a prison sentence for one of Lee's closest advisers for his part in the North Korean funds case, although Lee has constantly managed to delay rulings that would have made him ineligible to run in the presidential election.

Retrial delayed

On June 9, the Seoul High Court ruled that a retrial on election law violation charges would have to be delayed until after Lee leaves office, as the South Korean constitution exempts a sitting president from criminal prosecution, except in the case of insurrection or treason.

"Lee has a lot of power now and it is possible that he will try to protect himself after his term is completed by passing new laws," Kim said. "If he does try to do that then I think it will be very detrimental to his support and the public will be angry, especially the moderates who supported him this time," he added.

"If the Democratic Party does push through legislation like that, then South Korea will be in a situation where politicians become even more set on confrontation rather than trying to find ways to reconcile their differences, through dialogue, through compromise."