Lee Jae-myung advocates pragmatic diplomacy and balanced global engagement SEOUL, June 3 (AJP) - Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate of the liberal Democratic Party, is projected to win South Korea’s snap presidential election held Tuesday, with exit polls showing him ahead with 51.7 percent of the vote. His conservative rival Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party follows with 39.3 percent, according to a joint exit poll survey by public broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS. At the center of Lee's diplomatic strategy is a push for pragmatic engagement with major powers while maintaining the foundation of the United States–South Korea alliance. He has cautioned against a one-sided foreign policy approach, arguing that South Korea must adapt to shifting global dynamics and avoid following any single country unilaterally. Lee emphasizes that even long-standing allies like the United States are adopting protectionist policies, which calls for greater strategic independence. His "New Asia Strategy" aims to update previous diplomatic frameworks to better match today’s geopolitical realities. It includes expanding strategic cooperation with China, Japan, and Russia. Lee argues that China and Russia should not be treated as enemies by default, while also acknowledging the need to address unresolved historical tensions with Japan. Lee also calls for stronger ties with the Global South, identifying Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America as key diplomatic and economic partners. This multipolar approach is central to his broader plan for securing South Korea’s long-term strategic autonomy in an increasingly complex world. He has pledged to launch an emergency task force focused on trade negotiations to better manage economic tensions with Washington. On North Korea, Lee calls for a shift from confrontation to phased engagement and gradual denuclearization. His campaign outlines a plan to restart inter-Korean dialogue, reduce military tensions through step-by-step measures, and pursue humanitarian initiatives such as family reunions. While maintaining deterrence, Lee supports restoring cooperative projects designed to build mutual trust between the two Koreas. In terms of defense, Lee emphasizes conventional capabilities within the U.S.–South Korea alliance and opposes the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons or pursuing an independent nuclear arsenal. He proposes adopting AI-enhanced military technologies and establishing a hybrid conscription system, offering service members the option of short-term military service or longer professional careers. His administration would also focus on strengthening missile defense systems and boosting the defense industry's international competitiveness. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Lee promised to create a "robust security powerhouse where elite soldiers, armed with cutting-edge equipment and weapons, proudly dedicate themselves to defending the homeland." 2025-06-03 20:27:35

Liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung projected to win S. Korea's presidential snap election SEOUL, June 03 (AJP) - Liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party is projected to win South Korea’s snap presidential election held Tuesday, with exit polls showing him ahead with 51.7 percent of the vote. His conservative rival Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party follows with 39.3 percent, according to a joint exit poll survey by public broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS. This marks South Korea’s first presidential snap election in eight years, following the one held after the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye in 2017. The vote was called after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and removed from office for declaring martial law on December 3, 2024. The Constitutional Court upheld the National Assembly’s decision on Apr. 4, and under South Korean law, a new president must be elected within 60 days of a vacancy. Lee, 61, began his life in poverty in Andong, working in factories as a child to help support his family. After passing a high school equivalency exam, he studied law and became a human rights lawyer. He later served as mayor of Seongnam City and governor of Gyeonggi Province, building a reputation for progressive policies and welfare reforms. The Democratic Party already holds 171 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly. A victory for Lee would further strengthen its political standing and mark a clear rejection of the previous conservative administration. Kim, despite his credentials, struggled to overcome the backlash from Yoon’s impeachment and divisions within the conservative bloc. Voting took place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 14,295 polling stations across the country. The National Election Commission reported a turnout of 77.8 percent as of 7 p.m., with about 44 million people eligible to vote. The official result is expected early Wednesday, and the new president will take office immediately. 2025-06-03 20:10:06

PHOTOS: People visit poll booths to vote for new president SEOUL, June 03 (AJP) - The day has come for South Koreans to choose a new leader to steer the nation through crisis. Voting for the 21st presidential election began at 6 a.m. on Jun. 3 at 14,295 polling stations nationwide. The incoming president will face the daunting task of navigating economic and security challenges both at home and abroad, while also addressing a deepening crisis in democracy and growing social divisions that followed the Dec. 3 martial law declaration and the impeachment of the former president. 2025-06-03 16:55:16

Turnout reaches record 65.5 percent by 2 p.m. in South Korea's presidential vote SEOUL, June 03 (AJP) - South Korea's snap presidential election drew an unprecedented level of voter participation by Tuesday afternoon, with turnout reaching 65.5 percent as of 2 p.m., according to the National Election Commission (NEC). It marks the highest voter turnout at this time of day in any presidential election in the country’s history. Of the 44.39 million eligible voters, more than 29 million had cast their ballots by 2 p.m. The figure includes those who voted early, as well as overseas, absentee, and shipboard voters. Early voting, held on May 29 and 30, brought out over 15.42 million voters, making up 34.74 percent of the electorate. Compared to past elections, participation is notably higher. Turnout is 0.7 percentage points above the same time in the 2022 presidential race, and 5.6 points higher than in 2017. South Jeolla Province reported the highest regional turnout at 76.0 percent, followed closely by Gwangju at 74.0 percent and North Jeolla at 73.8 percent. The city of Sejong also saw 70 percent turnout. While in-person voting in some areas appeared lower, strong early voting numbers in the Jeolla region, over 50 percent in all three locations, boosted the overall figures. The southern port city of Busan had the lowest turnout at 62.1 percent, with Daegu and Jeju both at 63.3 percent. South Chungcheong Province saw 63.4 percent turnout. In the greater capital area, turnout stood at 64.9 percent in Seoul, 65.3 percent in Gyeonggi Province, and 63.7 percent in Incheon. With such high turnout, attention is now on whether final participation could top 80 percent for the first time since the 1997 election. That year, before early voting was introduced, turnout stood at just 47.3 percent by 1 p.m. The final turnout was 77.1 percent in 2022 and 77.2 percent in 2017. This year, high early voting participation, second only to the 2022 record, appears to have pushed figures higher overall. As of 2 p.m., voter turnout for election day alone, not counting early ballots, stood at 30.8 percent. "Given this is a by-election caused by a vacancy in the presidency, the high public interest appears to be reflected in the turnout," an NEC official said. The NEC updates turnout figures every hour based on data collected 10 minutes prior. With polls set to close at 8 p.m., vote counting at the 254 counting stations nationwide is expected to begin between 8:30 and 8:40 p.m. 2025-06-03 15:05:42

PHOTOS: Decision Day SEOUL, June 02 (AJP) - South Korea is poised for the presidential election June 3, with polls opening at 6 a.m. across 14,295 voting stations nationwide. Voting will continue until 8 p.m., after which the process of counting ballots will commence. Political observers anticipate that results will become clear as early as midnight. The next president will immediately take office for a five-year term. 2025-06-02 16:57:28

INTERVIEW: Beauty brand Moumou founder turning tutorials into sales SEOUL, June 02 (AJP) - For Yu Hyeon-gyeong, a veteran makeup artist with two decades of experience, the path from the broadcast studio to beauty entrepreneurship was anything but planned. Yet since launching her cosmetics brand, Moumou, in December 2023, she has quietly built a devoted following — driven largely by a steady stream of tutorial-focused Instagram content. “The secret to our success? Merely Instagram,” she said in a recent interview at her Cheongdam-dong salon, The Class Monarch. Yu, who spent more than a decade working with leading Korean broadcasters such as SBS and MBC, became a familiar name in media circles as the artist behind the polished looks of high-profile news anchors like Park Sun-young and Bae Hyun-jin. “I wasn’t someone who set out to start a business,” Yu said. “My parents were entrepreneurs, so I knew it wasn’t always a happy path.” Still, her move into cosmetics was a natural evolution, particularly as social media reshaped the beauty industry. Her salon began gaining traction on Instagram as early as 2016, well before the platform became mainstream in South Korea. “Every makeup artist dreams of creating their own brand,” she said. “We have a deeper love for cosmetics — and unique styles we want to express.” With Moumou, Yu aimed to break from the image of professional makeup brands she found too “sophisticated and difficult,” and instead positioned her products with an emphasis on usability. Her brand is built on what she calls a “friendship artist” philosophy. “I wanted cosmetics that not only looked pretty but also came with instructions on how to use them to look pretty,” she explained. “Like an appliance manual — but for makeup.” Naming the brand proved to be an unexpectedly complex process. She wanted a name that began with “M” to echo her salon, Monarch. After facing a series of trademark rejections, she settled on “Moumou” — a simple, visually intuitive name that she said even elementary schoolers could recognize online. “People don’t discover products by sound anymore. It’s all visual.” Yu’s business model eschews traditional advertising in favor of educational content. “If we release a grapefruit-colored product, we focus on showing people how to use it, not just how it looks in a photo,” she said. Her tutorials regularly attract between 800,000 and 1 million views, with demonstrative content far outperforming static imagery in generating sales. The strategy appears to be working. The brand has gained a particularly strong following in Japan, where consumers are drawn to Moumou’s soft, princess-inspired aesthetic. Japanese customers now represent roughly 80 percent of Moumou’s overseas clientele. “Distributors even asked if we created the brand specifically for Japan,” she said with a laugh. “We didn’t — but apparently the style resonates.” In April, Moumou entered the Japanese market through Bihibi, a distributor known for bringing Korean brands such as Skin Angel and AOU to local shelves. The company plans to expand into Loft stores by the second half of 2025. Yu attributes her trend sensitivity to her salon’s location in Seoul’s upscale Cheongdam-dong neighborhood, where beauty-savvy clients arrive with highly specific requests. “They won’t just ask for a pink lipstick,” she said. “They'll ask for detailed under-eye techniques or specific lip-overlining styles.” Despite close working relationships with her team — many of whom followed her from her broadcast days — Yu maintains clear boundaries. “Even though my deputy director and I have worked together for 17 years, we’ve only had two meals together,” she said. “I don’t message staff after hours unless it’s urgent. That distance keeps the relationship healthy.” As her employees began building social media followings of their own, Yu restructured the salon’s employment model, shifting from salaried positions to freelance contracts. “When they started receiving brand deals, I encouraged them to go freelance,” she said. “They can keep their outside income and still earn incentives through salon work.” Yu has turned down offers to expand through major platforms such as Amazon, preferring a deliberate, incremental approach to growth. “We’re a small brand, and I believe in doing each step right, rather than rushing.” While international markets beckon, her immediate focus remains on deepening Moumou’s presence at home. “My goal isn’t just to sell makeup — it’s to teach people how to enjoy it,” she said. “I want to help solve the concerns that clients bring to me every day.” 2025-06-02 16:10:20

New president to emerge late night on Tuesday SEOUL, June 2 (AJP) - Voting for the June 3 presidential election begins at 6 a.m. on Tuesday at some 14,300 polling stations nationwide. As ballot counting begins at 8 p.m., the country's new president is not expected to emerge until around 11 p.m. or midnight. As the snap election follows the premature ouster of former disgraced President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched martial law debacle late last year, polling hours have been extended by two hours from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., so "the winner will be decided quite late," said an official at the National Election Commission on Monday. But variables remain, depending on the final turnout, which could delay procedures at some 250 ballot-counting sites with around 70,000 personnel, and on how tight the race is. The election watchdog also added that it will take around eight hours for all ballots to be counted, meaning the exact number of votes will be known in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Results of exit polls from the country's three major terrestrial broadcasters - KBS, MBC, and SBS - based on responses from over 100,000 voters who cast their ballots on election day are expected to be available soon after the polls close. With two-day early voting last week wrapping up with a high turnout of 34.74 percent, attention now turns to how this will affect the final turnout. In the 2022 presidential election, the early voting turnout hit a record 36.93 percent, but the final turnout stood at 77.1 percent, not much different from the previous elections. One of the key factors will depend on voter turnout in the southern regions including the conservatives' main stronghold of Daegu, which showed the lowest turnout last Thursday and Friday, probably due to doubts about early voting and concerns over possible fraud, as well as in the Seoul metropolitan area and Chungcheong provinces, both of which also fell below the national average in early turnout. Unlike early voting, voters are only allowed to cast their ballots at designated polling stations based on their registered addresses on the main voting day and must present a valid ID. Taking pictures of ballots inside election booths, as well as posting them on social media, is also prohibited. Violators can face up to two years in prison or fines of up to 400 million won (US$2,900). Among younger voters, taking selfies or sharing posts with customized ballot slips featuring their favorite idols or cartoon characters after voting has become the latest fad. 2025-06-02 15:56:29

Police probe overseas IP addresses in SK Telecom cyber attack SEOUL, June 2 (AJP) - South Korean authorities have identified foreign internet addresses linked to the recent cyberattack on SK Telecom and are coordinating with at least three countries as part of an expanding international investigation, police said on Monday. During a press briefing, Park Hyun-soo, acting chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said that cybercrime teams are analyzing server log records tied to malicious code discovered in the breach. “We have found overseas IP addresses during the analysis and are conducting international cooperative investigations,” Park said. Police did not disclose the countries involved but confirmed they are working in conjunction with the National Intelligence Service. The scope of the collaboration suggests a broader effort to trace the source of the hack, which has raised alarms over potential foreign interference in the country's critical communications infrastructure. When asked whether the foreign IP addresses indicated that the cooperating nations had served as conduits for the attackers, officials declined to elaborate. “We are in the process of verification and cannot say that anything has been definitively established,” Park said. Speculation has circulated that China or North Korea may be connected to the breach. However, investigators emphasized that no conclusions have been reached. Authorities continue to examine the origin of the attack, including whether it bears hallmarks of state-sponsored activity. The breach, discovered in April, targeted South Korea’s largest telecommunications provider and is believed to have compromised the personal data of a significant portion of SK Telecom’s user base. 2025-06-02 15:52:27

Court weighs detention of subway arson suspect as probe continues SEOUL, June 02 (AJP) - A man in his 60s accused of starting a fire on Seoul’s Line 5 subway on May 31 appeared in court Monday for a detention hearing, two days after the blaze disrupted Seoul’s subway train service and sent dozens to the hospital. The suspect, surnamed Won, was brought to the Seoul Southern District Court. The hearing, held to decide whether to formally detain him ahead of trial, lasted about 15 minutes. Won faces charges of setting fire to a train in operation and causing injuries. He acknowledged the allegations during his brief exchange with the press. Asked if he admitted to the charges, he replied, "Yes." When pressed about nearly endangering hundreds of lives, he simply said, "I’m sorry." Won denied pretending to be a victim during the evacuation but stayed silent when asked whether the act was premeditated or linked to frustration over his recent divorce case. A decision on the detention warrant is expected later in the day. The fire broke out around 8:43 a.m. on May 31 between Yeouinaru and Mapo stations. According to police, Won boarded the train with gasoline, poured it inside a carriage, and lit clothing on fire using a torch-style lighter. He allegedly told investigators that he purchased the fuel two weeks earlier and carried out the act due to resentment over his divorce ruling. The blaze injured 23 people, including Won. All were treated for smoke inhalation or minor injuries. Another 129 passengers received on-site care. One subway car was partially destroyed, with damages estimated at 330 million won ($240,209). Police are reviewing CCTV footage and conducting forensic analysis on Won’s phone to verify his statements. 2025-06-02 15:28:23

Canadian orchestra and S. Korean pianist collaborate to display friendship and partnership SEOUL, June 02 (AJP) - The grandeur of the Seoul Arts Center came alive last Saturday night as Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra and acclaimed South Korean pianist Son Yeol-eum delivered an evening of musical collaboration. The performance, part of the NAC Orchestra's first-ever tour to South Korea, marked a highlight in the yearlong celebration of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Under the baton of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra presented a wide-ranging program, from the lush romanticism of Richard Strauss's Don Juan to the cosmic modernity of Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy's Dark Nights, Bright Stars, Vast Universe. Specially commissioned by the NAC Orchestra, Murphy's piece was performed in Korea for the first time, conceived as a contemporary response to Don Juan. "Tonight, we present to you music which brings us together and inspires us across time and across culture," Shelley said in his opening remarks. "We are very privileged to be working with one of your great artists, Son Yeol-eum." Son performed Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major with precision and dazzling flair, capturing the emotional heart of the evening. Composed in 1929 and inspired by Ravel's trip to the U.S., the piece reflects the rapid cultural shifts of the era, delivered here through Son’s interpretation. The concert concluded with a thunderous performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, capping a two-hour musical journey spanning from the 1800s to 2025, featuring Canadian and South Korean musicians. Canadian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Tamara Mawhinney reflected on the evening's resonance. "What we saw tonight, the symbiosis between a Canadian orchestra and a remarkable Korean pianist, was a beautiful image for us all to take away of the bilateral warmth between our two countries. I felt tonight the strength of our friendship and partnership." "Canada's National Arts Center is our nation's home for the performing arts, located in the country's capital city of Ottawa. Despite our long history of touring, this is our very first tour to Korea, and we are delighted to finally meet the Korean audience," said Christopher Deacon, President and CEO of the National Arts Centre. Adding a historical dimension to the celebration, former South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin reminded attendees of Canada's sacrifice during the Korean War. "Seventy-five years ago, Canada sent more than 26,000 young men and women to defend Korea's peace and democracy during the Korean War. It was a sacrifice we Koreans will never forget," he said. As the evening came to a close, the music served not only as entertainment but also as a bridge across continents, affirming that art, like diplomacy, resonates most deeply when shared. 2025-06-02 15:20:25