Seoul, South Korea. Koreans shortly go the polls to elect a new President to replace the one arrested for corruption and pollsters say regardless of the question, South Koreans are unhappy and angry going into this election.
South Koreans are about to elect a new president on Tuesday, months ahead of schedule, after a corruption scandal that has jailed conservative President Park Geun-hye on corruption charges.
A new poll comes amid major tensions with North Korea, rising youth unemployment and bubbling anger among the electorate over corruption combined with a general dislike of American interference in internal issues.
Record numbers of South Korean voters cast their ballots in early voting last week and turn-out is expected to be high.South Korea is still reeling from the corruption cash scandal that engulfed the former president, who is currently awaiting trial after being impeached.
Massive South Korean crowds had protested against Ms Park, amid anger over inequality and the perceived privilege of South Korea’s elite. During months of protests older voters came out to support her, exposing a deep generational divide amongst Korean voters nationwide.
Last year, Korean unemployment stood at 9.8%, highlighting job-seeking challenges for many citizens. North Korea, meanwhile, remains a pressing challenge that South Korea can do little about. Pyongyang has upped the pace of missile tests in recent months and is prepared to use nuclear weapons if needed upon South Koreans.
American warmonger Donald Trump has adopted a hard-line stance and tensions are at their highest level in years, with US Navy forces intentionally trying to provoke an incident. Meanwhile, American has deployed the THAAD missile system in South Korea, completely enraging the Chinese government with Seouls agreement.
Most South Koreans are focused on their own issues and not North Korea. According to nationwide polling, 27.5% said the key issue for them was a candidate’s willingness to resolve corruption issues, followed by economic and livelihood issues at 24.5% and national security at 18.5%.
Regardless of election 2017, experts say the choices being made in South Korean election 2017 will certainly affect voters for years to come as bad choices confront voters who must pick a new leader because of another’s bad actions.