Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea’s opposition party, has been inaugurated as the country’s President following an unambiguous triumph in a snap election. His campaign was characterized by various pro-cryptocurrency proposals.
Lee emerged victorious in the election held on June 3, just half a year after the previous president, Yoon Suk-yeol, enacted martial law, leading to political turmoil. With 99% of the votes tallied by June 4, Lee, representing the center-left Democratic Party, garnered over 49% of the votes, outpacing his conservative People Power Party opponent, Kim Moon-soo, who secured 41% of the votes, according to the National Election Commission data.
As Reuters noted, nearly 80% of South Korea’s 44.4 million registered voters participated in the election, marking the highest voter turnout for a presidential election since 1997. Dennis Porter, the founder of Satoshi Action Fund, commented on this remarkable turnout while in South Korea on election day.
Lee has pledged to allow the country’s $884 billion national pension fund to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, he has supported the idea of launching Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Additionally, he plans to introduce a Korean Won-backed stablecoin to modernize the country’s financial system and prevent capital leakages.
Kim, his opponent, also ran a campaign supporting spot crypto ETFs and vowing to simplify regulations to foster crypto adoption. Bitcoin prices surged to 149,000 won (approximately $108,480) on South Korea’s top exchanges, Bithumb and Upbit, due to the so-called kimchi premium.
Lee takes office during a time of significant challenges for South Korea, including economic hardships due to increased living costs, ongoing trade negotiations with the US, and regional geopolitical tensions. It remains to be seen how high his crypto-related promises will rank in his list of priorities. However, he has pledged to “restore the economy” from day one.
