My ARMY and Koreaphile friends, Lee Jae-myung (이재명) from the liberal Democratic Party won the presidential election here in Korea! It is a win for progressives around the world and for BTS members who will reunite in a few weeks!
Let me introduce you a little about Lee Jae-myung. He is someone who embodies the very heart of modern Korean history. In the 1960s, South Korea was mired in the bleakness of military dictatorship, poorer even than its northern neighbor. It was during this era, in a humble home in Andong, Gyeongsang Province, that Lee was born. From an early age, he was unable to attend school, forced instead to work in a factory to help support his family. His childhood was marked by stark poverty and misery.
Operating scorching press machines with hands that had scarcely finished growing, he suffered a severe injury to his left arm when he was fourteen years old, an injury that he still carries with, as his left arm is crooked. Yet even this could not break his spirit.
Despite spending his days on the factory floor, Lee taught himself at night, eventually passing the GED and then college qualification exam and earning admission to university. He then passed the bar exam with top honors. At this point, he could have chosen a comfortable and prosperous path—as a judge, a prosecutor, or a lawyer in a prestigious firm. But Lee never forgot his own impoverished and painful youth. He chose to become a labor and human rights attorney, standing up for workers and the marginalized, people whose circumstances echoed his own when he was young.
As a labor rights lawyer, Lee confronted the limits of what legal battles could achieve. No matter how just his cases, he could not escape the realization that the underlying fabric of society remained unchanged. It was this conviction that led him to enter politics.
He ran for mayor of Seongnam, a city in Gyeonggi Province that is a suburb of Seoul. He suffered two straight defeats, but persevered and was ultimately elected. Over eight years as mayor, he fulfilled more than 95% of his campaign promises, governed with transparency and integrity, and earned the trust and affection of citizens through open communication and tangible results. His name soon became known throughout the nation.
Next, Lee was elected governor of Gyeonggi Province as the Democratic Party’s candidate. Once again, he achieved a promise fulfillment rate exceeding 95%, transforming Gyeonggi—long among the nation’s lowest-ranked provinces—into a model of progress in a short time.
Buoyed by these achievements, his sincerity, and a proven record, Lee rose to become a presidential candidate. Yet three years ago, he narrowly lost to the conservative candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol, by a razor-thin margin of 0.7 percentage points.
After the election, the conservative administration wielded extraordinary laws and prosecutorial powers against Lee, while much of the media (Korean media is notorious for being conservative), distorting the truth, portrayed him as “corrupt and evil.”
Nevertheless, he stood firm. Amidst political oppression and crisis, he never abandoned his convictions. Ultimately, President Yoon was impeached on charges of insurrection, and Korea faced another presidential election in just three years.
In this turbulent moment, the public once again took stock of Lee Jae-myung’s achievements and integrity as mayor and governor. He was chosen as the Democratic Party’s candidate again and, at last, today, on June 3rd, 2025, elected president. His life has been a testament to turning the impossible into reality, and it is his unwavering commitment to stand with the marginalized that has brought him to where he is today.
I admire him for the way he persevered to overcome his poverty to become who he is today, just like BTS, but more because he remained humble and righteous, not forgetting his life as a marginalized person and spending all his adult life trying to make Korea a little better place for all the people who lived in margins. Thank you Lord for this victory for the common folk!
P.S. By the way, during the countdown of the presidential election vote tally, the TV station aired a montage of pivotal moments and the most influential figures in modern Korean history. Among them was RM, surrounded by his BTS bandmates, speaking at the United Nations. I captured the moment in a photo. What a beautiful moment for BTS and for Korea!
