🇰🇷 WHO IS LEE JAE-MYUNG? THE LEFTIST FIREBRAND BEHIND SOUTH KOREA’S POLITICAL MELTDOWN

Lee Jae-myung isn’t just any politician—he’s a left-wing populist who rose from factory floors to dominate South Korea’s opposition.

A lawyer-turned-reformer, Lee’s claim to fame includes free school lunches, housing reforms, and universal basic income pilots, making him a hero to progressives and a thorn in the side of conservatives.

But Lee’s political career has been as messy as it is bold.

As Governor of Gyeonggi Province, he won fans with his ambitious policies but courted scandal with corruption allegations, legal battles, and even accusations of perjury (which he narrowly dodged).

Despite this baggage, Lee almost snagged the presidency in 2022, losing by a hair to the current president, Yoon Suk Yeol.

Now, Lee’s kind of staging a coup and he has South Korea on the brink...

After orchestrating a budget blockade in parliament, he accused Yoon of authoritarianism, publicly declared him “no longer the president,” and rallied the public to storm the National Assembly.

Some call him a freedom fighter; others say he’s playing a dangerous game with democracy itself.

Source: Yonhap News, USA Today, AP