Zürcher Nachrichten - Working-class hero? Ex-factory boy aims for South Korean presidency

EUR -
AED 4.111594
AFN 78.919101
ALL 98.675968
AMD 434.32085
ANG 2.003391
AOA 1026.502274
ARS 1266.627636
AUD 1.740612
AWG 2.014944
AZN 1.901299
BAM 1.951787
BBD 2.263087
BDT 136.180614
BGN 1.955095
BHD 0.421933
BIF 3285.478409
BMD 1.119413
BND 1.453837
BOB 7.745283
BRL 6.312485
BSD 1.120816
BTN 95.518196
BWP 15.217983
BYN 3.668024
BYR 21940.503176
BZD 2.251411
CAD 1.564728
CDF 3212.716552
CHF 0.940194
CLF 0.027456
CLP 1053.625569
CNY 8.066885
CNH 8.070389
COP 4709.092436
CRC 569.239784
CUC 1.119413
CUP 29.664456
CVE 110.037774
CZK 24.928206
DJF 198.942529
DKK 7.460857
DOP 65.877863
DZD 149.234576
EGP 56.435562
ERN 16.791201
ETB 148.81438
FJD 2.54073
FKP 0.843084
GBP 0.843193
GEL 3.067132
GGP 0.843084
GHS 13.936688
GIP 0.843084
GMD 81.157625
GNF 9689.642644
GTQ 8.610988
GYD 234.492062
HKD 8.74136
HNL 28.8251
HRK 7.536564
HTG 146.65977
HUF 403.244617
IDR 18510.340582
ILS 3.97727
IMP 0.843084
INR 95.922085
IQD 1466.43159
IRR 47141.36461
ISK 145.098729
JEP 0.843084
JMD 178.892188
JOD 0.794003
JPY 163.471332
KES 144.624383
KGS 97.893165
KHR 4500.042426
KMF 492.961714
KPW 1007.500614
KRW 1565.634362
KWD 0.344142
KYD 0.933996
KZT 569.418898
LAK 24193.327174
LBP 100299.443303
LKR 334.613512
LRD 223.441358
LSL 20.451653
LTL 3.305337
LVL 0.677122
LYD 6.16811
MAD 10.412227
MDL 19.547159
MGA 5070.942943
MKD 61.539861
MMK 2350.077382
MNT 4004.865635
MOP 9.010036
MRU 44.384724
MUR 51.437295
MVR 17.294962
MWK 1943.301996
MXN 21.708564
MYR 4.801191
MZN 71.526352
NAD 20.452128
NGN 1791.677003
NIO 41.13821
NOK 11.625192
NPR 152.837489
NZD 1.897848
OMR 0.430964
PAB 1.120766
PEN 4.108272
PGK 4.551815
PHP 62.474647
PKR 315.645426
PLN 4.234364
PYG 8948.601207
QAR 4.075333
RON 5.104856
RSD 116.97159
RUB 89.973677
RWF 1605.527636
SAR 4.19867
SBD 9.351988
SCR 16.421351
SDG 672.217458
SEK 10.89993
SGD 1.453872
SHP 0.879683
SLE 25.442116
SLL 23473.540104
SOS 639.7423
SRD 40.747209
STD 23169.59786
SVC 9.807011
SYP 14554.282247
SZL 20.451671
THB 37.397923
TJS 11.617222
TMT 3.923544
TND 3.384551
TOP 2.621775
TRY 43.397285
TTD 7.586537
TWD 33.816365
TZS 3013.383659
UAH 46.531928
UGX 4094.581326
USD 1.119413
UYU 46.823728
UZS 14541.180173
VES 104.51141
VND 29031.987239
VUV 134.472655
WST 3.121561
XAF 654.622757
XAG 0.03512
XAU 0.000358
XCD 3.02527
XDR 0.822363
XOF 644.78257
XPF 119.331742
YER 273.305086
ZAR 20.438015
ZMK 10076.064499
ZMW 29.842442
ZWL 360.450667
  • RBGPF

    63.8100

    63.81

    +100%

  • CMSC

    -0.0950

    21.965

    -0.43%

  • SCS

    -0.1700

    10.54

    -1.61%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1700

    10.53

    -1.61%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    9.04

    -0.22%

  • RIO

    -0.2400

    62.03

    -0.39%

  • CMSD

    -0.1300

    22.26

    -0.58%

  • GSK

    -0.1300

    36.22

    -0.36%

  • NGG

    -0.1000

    67.43

    -0.15%

  • AZN

    -1.4900

    66.23

    -2.25%

  • RELX

    0.6600

    53.06

    +1.24%

  • BTI

    -0.1400

    40.55

    -0.35%

  • BCC

    -2.9700

    90.74

    -3.27%

  • BCE

    -0.7200

    21.26

    -3.39%

  • BP

    -0.2000

    30.36

    -0.66%

  • JRI

    -0.1100

    12.77

    -0.86%

Working-class hero? Ex-factory boy aims for South Korean presidency
Working-class hero? Ex-factory boy aims for South Korean presidency

Working-class hero? Ex-factory boy aims for South Korean presidency

Cultural hits from Netflix show "Squid Game" to Oscar-winner "Parasite" have raised South Korean inequality to global prominence, and one presidential hopeful claims his working-class credentials make him the best man to fix a broken system.

Text size:

Former child factory worker Lee Jae-myung, a school dropout maimed in an industrial accident as a teen, is the ruling Democratic Party's maverick candidate in the March 9 election.

A rarity for politicians in status-obsessed South Korea, Lee is playing up his rags-to-riches tale in a bid to convince voters he can solve their economic woes.

Sky-high real estate prices, stagnant growth and stubborn youth unemployment are among voters' top concerns in an election where polling is neck-and-neck and the campaign has been dominated by mud-slinging.

From universal basic income to government-funded hair-loss treatment, former mayor and provincial governor Lee is proposing a slew of unorthodox policies that his campaign says are a reflection of his impoverished childhood.

"You can worry about people outside shivering in the cold while you sit in your warm living room," Lee told AFP in an exclusive interview in his campaign van.

"But you can never really understand their pain."

The opposition decries his proposals as populist, saying Lee is trying to "buy votes with free money" and will "burden the next generation with debt".

And a series of scandals have marred Lee's run for top office: his wife was accused of misappropriating public funds; he is being scrutinised over a suspect land development deal, and he is dogged by rumours of mafia ties.

He started his campaign by being forced to apologise for a profanity-laden family phone call, and was the subject of a controversial book describing his efforts to section his brother in a mental hospital.

- No bow tie -

Last year, his campaign published two photographs: one showing a floppy-haired young Lee in an ill-fitting suit, the other of teenage Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate for the People Power Party, in a bow tie.

It was an effort to hammer home the contrast between Yoon, raised in an affluent family, and Lee, who dropped out of school at 11 then put himself through night school.

Lee's story appears to resonate with supporters. At a recent rally in the central city of Cheongju, many waved placards saying: "Only those who know the pain of hunger understand the tears of the ordinary people."

But it is unclear whether it will be enough to propel him to victory in a tight race, with most recent polls falling within the margin for error. One survey released Tuesday showed Yoon in the lead by 2.5 percent.

Political analyst Park Sang-byoung said how the candidates perform in two upcoming televised debates, and whether they can broaden their message to attract swing voters, would be decisive.

In the 1970s, Lee was working in a glove factory as South Korea underwent a rapid economic rise, largely driven by manufacturing.

Labour rights activist Chun Soon-ok, whose brother self-immolated to protest brutal working conditions in South Korean factories back then, said it was a terrible time for manual labourers.

"Managers at the time didn't treat us as human beings," she said.

Lee told AFP: "It was a repressive era and managers dressed in military uniform would beat up junior workers. I figured I could only save myself from a beating if I became a manager, a position that required a high school degree."

After his arm got stuck in a press aged 13, he was left permanently disabled and became "suicidal", but night school and a law school scholarship gave him a way out.

He became a human rights lawyer, before entering politics in 2010.

It is "unheard of" for a former child labourer to become an elected politician, said Lee Sang-don, a former MP who taught Lee law at university in the early 1980s.

Although other politicians such as former president Roh Moo-hyun have grown up poor, South Korea's legislature is dominated by the wealthy and well-connected, with most parliamentarians classed as millionaires according to their declared assets.

- Universal basic income -

Lee's political rise has coincided with growing domestic concern over inequality, and his move in 2019 as governor of Gyeonggi province to give cash handouts to young adults captured the zeitgeist.

He also rolled out free school uniforms and free maternity care, and in early 2020 offered his constituents the country's first pandemic relief funds.

If he wins next month, he has pledged to expand his universal basic income scheme nationwide, saying he'll give 1 million won ($835) each year to every adult.

"I had to work in a factory because I couldn't pay for school," he told AFP, explaining his rationale.

"My parents were cleaners. I escaped poverty, but many around me are still stuck... I want to change the system."

E.Leuenberger--NZN