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Conservative Candidate Wins South Korean Presidential Election

Voters in South Korea recently elected Yoon Suk-yeol as president. The election represented the closest in the country’s history with the People Power Party’s candidate Mr. Yoon winning by less than 1 percent over the Democratic Party’s candidate Lee Jae-myung.

The most salient issues confronting voters were gender inequality and the state of the economy. Beyond rising house prices and youth unemployment, President-elect Yoon ran on the platform that he plans to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family which attempts to improve the lives of women and children.

What happened in South Korea?

INSTRUCTORS: click the link below to download this week’s lecture for use in your classroom. The deck contains a writing prompt and a debate question as well as other assessment questions.

Videos:

News Articles:

South Korea: Conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol elected president

BBC NEWS

March 10, 2022

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60685141

South Korea president-elect’s pledge to shutter gender ministry stirs debate

REUTERS

March 18, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-president-elects-pledge-shutter-gender-ministry-stirs-debate-2022-03-18/

South Korean president-elect says to move future office beyond Blue House: media

CGTN

March 20, 2022

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-03-20/Yoon-to-relocate-presidential-office-to-defense-ministry-18y93z3FUOY/index.html

News Articles (Analyses):

Yoon’s win reflects South Korea’s unquenched thirst for justice

THE KOREA HERALD

March 10, 2022

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220310000398

South Korea’s clash of corporate titans after ‘Squid Game’ election

NIKKEI ASIA

March 17, 2022

https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/South-Korea-s-clash-of-corporate-titans-after-Squid-Game-election

South Korea: Yoon’s Election And Seoul’s New Foreign Policy Strategy In Indo-Pacific – Analysis

EURASIA REVIEW

March 22, 2022

https://www.eurasiareview.com/18032022-south-korea-yoons-election-and-seouls-new-foreign-policy-strategy-in-indo-pacific-analysis/

The Election of a Conservative South Korean President is Good News for the U.S. | Opinion

NEWSWEEK

March 22, 2022

https://www.newsweek.com/election-conservative-south-korean-president-good-news-us-opinion-1690126

Assessment:

 Writing:? What is the significance of Mr. Yoon’s victory?

 Debate: What is the best way to achieve gender equality in South Korea?

 Poll: Should South Korea deploy the THAAD system over China’s objections?

 Short Answer: How will the geopolitics of the Korean peninsula change as a result of Mr. Yoon’s victory?

QUIZ:

Mr. Yoon won South Korea’s presidential election in a landslide. (T/F)

A majority of South Koreans support shutting down or restructuring the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. (T/F)

Mr. Yoon is a political novice and former prosecutor. (T/F)

Which two countries will South Korea work closer with in the years ahead?

  1. China and Japan.
  2. U.S. and Japan.
  3. North Korea and China.
  4. Russia and North Korea.

Voter turnout for South Korea’s presidential election was ____?

a. high.

b. low.

c. above 78% of eligible voters.

d. below 48% of eligible voters.

All the following were the most important issues facing voters in South Korea’s presidential election EXCEPT.

a. Housing prices.

b. Youth unemployment.

c. Climate change.

d. Gender inequality.

 

 

 

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