‘Gladiator politics’ dominate polarized elections
SEOUL, South Korea — The elections are ostensibly about the 300 seats in parliament, but when South Koreans go to the polls Wednesday, they will also be signaling support for one of two leaders who are locked in what is known here as “gladiator politics.”
The do-or-die rivalry between President Yoon Suk Yeol and opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, whose party holds the majority in the National Assembly, has made the elections as fraught with fear and resentment as any in South Korean history. Neither leader commands broad popularity, instead relying on hard-line supporters who either want to see Yoon, a conservative, impeached for abuse of power, or Lee, a progressive, imprisoned for corruption.
On the global stage, South Korea is the dynamic exporter of cars, phones, K-pop and K-dramas. But at home, voter discontent runs deep. The country’s economy is slowing. Its birthrate is the world’s lowest. Its Generation Z youth fear they will be the first generation in the country’s history economically worse off than their parents.
Amid these fundamental crises, the country’s politics are more divided than ever. Online demagoguery proliferates through YouTube and other social media, mainstreaming hate. In January, a disgruntled older man stabbed Lee in the neck with a knife. (The attacker said South Korea was “in a civil war.”) A few weeks later, an angry youth attacked a governing-party lawmaker, striking her in the head with a stone.
Yoon and Lee’s parties have released reams of similar campaign promises on how to address problems like the country’s dismal birthrate. But their campaign focus, analysts said, has been on demonizing their rivals.
South Korea’s politics have long been dominated by revenge and resentment, so much so they have become a vindictive “gladiators’ arena,” Cho Youngho, a political science professor at Sogang University, wrote in an analysis last month. Presidents, elected for a single, five-year term, have often pursued their predecessors or domestic rivals with criminal investigations, creating a vicious cycle of political retaliation.