Korean Presidential Election 2022: Foreigners React

Foreigners don’t have much in the way of voting power, especially when it comes to Korean presidential elections. However, the results affect our daily lives in a significant way. Our ability to immigrate and thrive in this beautiful country we call home depends a lot on politics. And so, this article will take a look at the historical 2022 South Korean presidential election and how foreigners living here reacted to the results.

Disclaimer

This article about foreigners’ reactions to South Korea’s 2022 presidential election. Its results are based on information I gathered on social media and through articles. It is not based on my personal opinion. Instead, I wrote this article hoping that foreigners like us can have a grasp on what is going on in this beautiful country that we call home.

Basic Election Information

The South Korean presidential election was held on 9 March 2022. This election had 14 candidates, each representing a different political party. However, among those 14 candidates, the two most prominent were Lee Jae-Myung from the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-Yeol.  Lee Jae-Myung is from the same political party as Moon Jae-In. 

The 2022 Korean presidential election can only be described as historical. It is an election that was won by the closest margin in South Korea’s history. People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-Yeol went head to head with Lee Jae-Myung of the Democratic Pary of Korea. While neither side agreed on much during the campaign, one thing can be sure – both sides played dirty.

However, in the end, Yoon Suk-Yeol emerged as the victor of the Korean presidential election. After a whole day of receiving and counting votes, the People Power Yoon Suk-Yeol won by a razor-thin margin. Lee Jae-Myung received 47.8% of the total vote and conceded defeat. Meanwhile, Yoon Suk-Yeol got 48.6% of the total vote and proceeded to be the new president of Korea. 

New president Yoon Seok-youl

Yoon Suk-Yeol (Korean: 윤석열; Hanja: 尹錫悅, born December 18, 1960) is relatively new to politics. He was previously an attorney and former public prosecutor who served as Prosecutor General of South Korea from 2019 to 2021 under President Moon Jae-in.

His main approach to policy, as Nam Hyun-woo of KoreaTimes wrote, is “to rebuild the nation based on justice and common sense and open an era of national unity. He also vowed to strengthen democracy and fight corruption to get the nation back on what he called the right track”.

Yoon’s Korean Presidential Election Pledges

Yoon Suk-Yeol has outlined hundreds of policies in his campaign pledges. You can Click Here to see the full list. Candidates have yet to make immigration policies a major part of their campaign platforms. However, I will outline some of his policies that are likely to have the greatest effect on Foreigners.

Foreign Policy

1. North Korea: Yoon Suk-Yeol wants to persue North Korea’s complete denuclearization, normalize inter-Korean relations, and promote joint prosperity. Plus, he would like to persue the implementation of the North Korean Human Rights Act and promte humanitarian assiatance for North Koreans regardless of the political situation.
2. United States: Wants to strengthen comprehensive strategic allience and increase military cooperation.
3. China: Plans to persue relations based on mutual respect.
4. Russia: Would like to expand cooperation.
5. Japan: Wants to adopt Kim Dae Jung – Obuchi Declaration 2.0.
6. International Organizations: Would like South Korea to play a larger role in G7, G20, APEC, ASEAN +3, EAS, and the UN. Additionally, he believes Korea should join Quad.

Overseas Koreans

Yoon Suk-Yeol would like to establish a special branch of the government to deal with overseas Koreans’ issues.

Pandemic

1. Four Promises: It is the government’s responsibilty to prove causal relationships of vaccines’ side effects. The government should provide death and illness compensation. There is a need to expand epodemiological research. Secure safe and effective vaccines
2. Must secure beds for severely ill.
3. Recovery: 50 trillion compensation plan focused on small buisnesses and self-employed. 50 trillion to rebuild critical systems (industry, education, culture, etc.). Promote IMF emergency relief debt reconstructing measures.

Housing

1. Supply 2.5 Million New Homes
2. Provide Warm, Clean housing for everyone: Increase public housing projects. Insure that 30% of new housing is low-income housing. provide vouchers to cover lmoving costs for at-risk individuals.
3. 1New City, 100,000 Homes : Increase the floor to area ratio and ease regulations. Promote reorganization projects that benefit tenants. Create a migration complex to control moving demand.

Culture

1. All Koreans can enjoy culture without discrimination: Promote cultral autonomy amoung different regions, Ensure the basic right to enjoy cultural activites by including a Culture Nuri Card in welfare subsidies.
2. International Promotion of K-Culture: Expand support for atists beyond hallyu (literature, traditional artforms, fashion, etc.). Increase cultural sensitivity and cultural security. Provide assistance to K-culture startups. Bring traditional culture into the future.

Women

1. Disband the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family
2. Crimes against women: Strengthen punishment for sexual crimes. Create a system for the support and protection of victims.
3. Pregnancy and Child Care: Increase pre and postpartum childcare benefits. Provide customized care services.

Healthcare

1. Strenghten the protection of personal information: He has claimed the need to strengthen the protection of personal information due to foreigners stealing the names of Koreans to access healthcare. In response, he believes QR codes and fingerprint ID should be used to confirm identities at hospitals.
2. Ease Burden for those with chronic illness: Expand coverage of severe disease and cancers. Gradually include long-term care in national health insurance.

Enviornment & Animals

1. Energy: Reduce reliance of fossil fuels by 1/3. No nuclear power
2. Air Pollution: Creation of fine dust reduction plan. Install air purifiers in schools and public facilities. Issue fine dust warnings 2 days in advance and create emergency measures that apply to outdoor work.
3. Waste Disposal: Install food grinders in new buildings to reduce food waste. Instead of landfills and incineration, use pyrolysis. Better recycling system.
4. Animal Rights: Standardization of pet healthcare, food, and funeral services. Eradicate puppy mills. Introduce measures to prevent dog attacks. Expand animal shelters. Create dog parks.

Foreigners’ Reactions the Korean Presidential Election

First, as seen on Tiktok, a lot of expats in Korea were impressed with the way Korean news channels displayed the vote count. They were very clever and creative in creating a K-pop dance animation with funny animated characters representing the top two candidates in the election. They definitely cleared some of the tension we all had while waiting to see who won the election.

Second, when the People Power party’s Yoon Suk-Yeol won the election, some people expressed their concern. Mainly, concerns about the future of foreigners in Korea. While campaigning for president, he uploaded a post that caused a lot of concern for foreigners living in Korea.

The post addressed the issue of foreigners abusing the national health insurance system. Specifically, it mentioned that 8 of 10 foreigners who receive national health insurance benefits are Chinese and that they received 3.3 billion won in benefits. His stated solution to the issue is to make sure that foreigners remain in Korea for 6 months before receiving benefits and that dependents (children of foreigners) should have the same standards applied.

Many foreigners pointed to his statement as an example of xenophobia, anti-Chinese, and anti-Immigrant sentiment. Meanwhile, Some foreigners defend Yoon Suk-Yeol. Many believe that the proposed regulations are acceptable.

Interested in learning more about South Korean politics? Click Here to read all about Korea’s complex take on feminism.