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![]() On foreign policy, Lee has vowed to continue Moon’s conciliatory approach toward North Korea and questioned the effectiveness of U.S.-led economic sanctions in pressuring Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program. He also promises additional payments for young adults under 30, senior citizens in their 60s and older, and vulnerable groups like farmers, fishermen and artists. Lee proposes a universal basic income policy that would eventually provide every South Korean an annual payment of 1 million won ($820) and plans to adopt a new type of property tax to help fund the payments. He has touted the social welfare programs and reforms he began while serving as mayor of Seongnam city from 2010 to 2018, and then as Gyeonggi governor between 20, which he says prepared him to “root out unfairness, inequality and corruption.” ![]() Moon's dovish attempts at inter-Korean rapprochement fell apart with the collapse of nuclear disarmament talks between Washington and Pyongyang in 2019.Ī former governor of South Korea’s most populous Gyeonggi Province, Lee has highlighted his struggles as a poor factory worker and later a labor rights lawyer before joining the center-left party in 2005. Tensions created by North Korea’s accelerating missile tests this year are also complicating Lee’s plans to inherit the foreign policy of current President Moon Jae-in. ![]() To critics, the 57-year-old is a dangerous populist who relies on stoking division and demonizing his conservative opponents while failing to back his ambitious vows for welfare spending with realistic funding plans. Lee Jae-myung’s supporters adore his outspoken style and see him as an anti-elitist hero who could fix establishment politics, eradicate corruption and solve growing economic inequality, a decaying job market and soaring house prices.
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