Kenji Yoshida 
Kim Moon-soo during his campaign (©Kim Moon-soo Twitter)
With South Korea's presidential election looming, ruling party contender Kim Moon-soo is making a last-ditch effort to turn the tide.
On May 11, Kim officially registered as the People Power Party's nominee after a hard-fought primary. His path to candidacy was anything but smooth. He narrowly fended off what seemed to be an internal push by senior lawmakers to unseat him, while coalition talks with former Prime Minister Han Duk-soo fell through.
Trailing behind the lead opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung in the national polls, Kim faces an uphill battle. A recent Realmeter survey puts Lee at 50.2%, Kim at 35.6%, and third-party candidate Lee Jun-seok at 8.7%.
From Radical Beginnings
Kim Moon-soo was born in 1951 in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. In 1970, he entered Seoul National University, where he soon joined a hunger strike demanding an investigation into deteriorating labor conditions in factories. The experience propelled him into South Korea's leftist student movement.
During South Korea's authoritarian era in the 1970s and 80s, Kim emerged as a prominent labor activist. He organized underground unions, championed workers' rights, and took aim at what he viewed as systemic injustice.
Twice ejected from university, he dedicated his youth to the labor movement, even serving time in prison for his activism. It would take Kim more than two decades to complete his college degree.
The Ideological Turn
With the fall of the Berlin Wall and fading faith in communism, Kim began drifting rightward in the late 1980s. The turning point came after the 1992 general election, when the leftist Minjung Party, which Kim helped found, failed to secure any seats and dissolved.
Politically adrift, Kim accepted an offer from then-president Kim Young-sam to join the conservative Democratic Liberal Party in 1994. Since then, Kim has served three terms in the National Assembly and twice as governor of Gyeonggi Province. Kim returned to the national limelight in August 2024 when he was appointed Minister of Employment and Labor under Yoon Suk-yeol's government.
Observers familiar with Kim's political journey note that his conservative convictions have become deeply rooted. "Emerging from the radical left, Kim has established himself as a principled conservative in the ruling party," said former South Korean parliamentarian Min Kyung-wook. "At this point, no one is better suited to carry forward the Yoon administration's commitment to conservatism."
In the lead-up to the June election, Min said Kim's key challenge will be "widening his support base and appealing to undecided voters."
Kim's Policy Prescriptions
Kim has unveiled a comprehensive policy agenda covering infrastructure, artificial intelligence, labor, economic reform, and national defense.
On the economic front, he pledges to lower corporate and inheritance taxes and establish an agency to carry out regulatory innovation. Labor proposals include introducing flexible working hours through voluntary agreements and expanding labor protections for small businesses.
On foreign policy, Kim advocates a pragmatic, national interest–focused approach. He reaffirms the importance of the South Korea-United States alliance and calls for bolstering the country's defense posture. Additionally, he proposes negotiations with Washington to address regional security challenges, including the potential pursuit of nuclear latency capabilities and the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula.
Lew Seok-choon, a former sociologist at Yonsei University, says this election comes at a critical crossroads. "As illiberal states challenge traditional alliances and Western values, Kim has been steadfast in defending our way of life," Lew said.
"Having maintained close ties with Trump's circle, Kim understands the strategic importance of the traditional alliance in countering the North Korea, China, and Russia axis," he added.
But while Kim generally backs Yoon's foreign policy, he has shown a willingness to chart his own path. When asked by a Kyodo reporter on May 3 whether he would continue Yoon's approach to Japan, Kim replied: "Japan is our neighbor, but history is baggage we still carry. We need honest dialogue to heal and move forward. Beyond the usual quarrels over the past and Dokdo [Takeshima], there's little reason for conflict."
Uphill Battle to the Helm
Like most elections in South Korea, the June 3 race will likely hinge on swing voters. For now, polls show a clear advantage for Lee Jae-myung, the former head of the main opposition Democratic Party and ex-Gyeonggi Governor.
To close this gap, Kim must expand his reach beyond his ideological stronghold. But for a hardline conservative, that's easier said than done. Forming a coalition appears to be a natural move, yet that option remains uncertain. So far, Lee Jun-seok, the conservative third-party contender, has declined to join hands.
Still, many conservatives argue that the current situation differs from when left-leaning Moon Jae In rose to the presidency following the ouster of conservative Park Geun-hye in 2017.
Though embattled Yoon was impeached and removed from office, he still commands substantial public support. Even during his impeachment proceedings, his approval rating often hovered over 40%. And Kim is expected to inherit much of that backing.
Likewise, the shared urgency among conservatives of different stripes to prevent a liberal victory leaves the possibility of a last-minute unity against Lee.
South Korean politics are notoriously unpredictable. And much can happen in the next two weeks.
RELATED:
Author: Kenji Yoshida
