South Korea: Lee Jae-myung steps down as opposition leader amid speculation of presidential bid

South Korea’s main opposition party head Lee Jae-myung said on Wednesday he was stepping down as party leader, amid expectations that the current populist front-runner for the presidency in opinion polls would soon declare his run.

South Korea’s labour minister, Kim Moon-soon, who has been among a handful of ruling People Power Party members who indicated intentions to run, also declared his candidacy.

South Korea will hold a presidential election on June 3, after former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment stemming from a December martial law declaration was upheld on April 4.

“I will be now starting new work,” Lee, the Democratic Party leader, told a party leadership meeting carried live on his YouTube channel. He did not elaborate and did not confirm he would be standing for the presidency.

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Lee, 61, lost by the slimmest margin in the country’s history when he ran against Yoon in the 2022 presidential election. Last year, he led his liberals to a landslide victory in a parliamentary election.

Unlike the Democratic Party, the ruling People Power Party has a wide open field of potential candidates including the labour minister and also the mayor of Seoul.

Kim, a firebrand conservative who has supported Yoon and called for his reinstatement, currently leads the field among conservative candidates, although he trails Lee in opinion polls under a two-way scenario.

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He said he would focus on strengthening the security alliance with the United States but also seek a path for the country to potentially pursue nuclear armament by securing the right to reprocess nuclear fuel, which is considered a step toward building atomic weapons.

“In response to North Korea’s nuclear threat, I will become a global leader in protecting freedom and human rights by securing nuclear fuel processing capabilities and developing nuclear-powered submarines,” he said.