South Korea election: provincial governor Lee Jae-myung emerges as front runner to replace Moon Jae-in as president

Lee once likened himself to US Senator Bernie Sanders, having advocated for universal basic income and instituted cash payments to all 24-year-old people for a year

Amid runaway housing prices, a poor employment outlook for young people and a string of corruption scandals, Lee’s populist message has resonated with independent voters

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Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:23pm, 14 Sep 2021Updated: 8:38pm, 14 Sep 2021

A South Korean politician who once said he aspired to be a “successful Bernie Sanders” is leading the field to replace Moon Jae-in as president after rising to prominence with an aggressive pandemic response and a populist economic agenda.

Lee Jae-myung, the governor of Gyeonggi province, has led in many recent national polls and dominated the early rounds of the ruling liberal Democratic Party primary, including the latest voting over the weekend.

As governor, Lee advocated for universal basic income and instituted cash payments to all 24-year-old people for a year. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, all province residents also received regular payments.

Under Lee, Gyeonggi also took aggressive steps to combat the pandemic, introducing restrictions on gatherings that were later adopted by the national government, raiding a church at the centre of a large outbreak, and imposing a controversial requirement that all foreign residents be tested.

His outsider image was once seen as a liability in the face of establishment competitors with closer ties to the outgoing Moon.

But with many South Koreans disillusioned by runaway housing prices, a poor employment outlook for young people and a string of corruption scandals, that populist message has driven him to the head of the pack as he looks to blunt conservatives’ efforts to capitalise on voter discontent.