103 Facts About Lee Jae-myung

Lee Jae-myung is a South Korean lawyer and politician serving as the member of the National Assembly for Gyeyang B since 2022.

Lee Jae-myung previously served as the governor of Gyeonggi Province from 2018 to 2021 and as the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea from 2022 to 2025.

Lee Jae-myung earned middle and high school equivalency diplomas and studied at Chung-Ang University, earning his law degree in 1986.

Lee Jae-myung entered politics in 2005 and unsuccessfully contested a few elections.

Lee Jae-myung was elected Mayor of Seongnam in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.

Lee Jae-myung resigned in 2018 for a successful run for Governor of Gyeonggi Province.

Lee Jae-myung ran for president in 2022, winning the party nomination, but narrowly losing to Yoon Suk Yeol in the general election.

Lee Jae-myung subsequently played a large role in leading the impeachment against Yoon.

Lee Jae-myung was born on 8 December 1963 in Andong, the fifth of seven children.

Lee Jae-myung grew up in poverty, and as a result of his family's lack of funds, he would frequently forgo social activities and relied on the generosity of school faculty to attend field trips and community movements.

Lee Jae-myung has cited fishing along the creek with his friends as being one of his favorite pastimes.

When Lee Jae-myung graduated from elementary school, the South Korean public school system did not give free education for middle and high school.

Lee Jae-myung's father spent most of the family's money on gambling, and Lee's family left Andong to find work.

Lee Jae-myung's family moved to Seongnam, an industrial planned city built during the administration of Park Chung Hee to concentrate industry outside of Seoul.

Lee Jae-myung passed the high school entrance examination and earned a middle school diploma in 1978.

Lee Jae-myung originally intended to become a judge or prosecutor for the prestige and pay, but he was inspired by a lecture from Roh Moo-hyun to become a human rights and labour lawyer, like Roh and Moon Jae-in.

Lee Jae-myung started a movement to build a new municipal hospital.

Lee Jae-myung's group protested the council, and Lee Jae-myung was wanted for obstructing official duties of a public official.

On 23 August 2005, Lee Jae-myung joined the then-ruling Uri Party, a predecessor of the Democratic Party of Korea, and declared his candidacy for mayor of Seongnam.

Lee Jae-myung declared a moratorium on spending and debt repayment in his first press conference, due to the city being in large debt.

Lee Jae-myung attracted attention due to his active use of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, often expressing his views on national issues bluntly on the two services.

Lee Jae-myung restructured and focused on the welfare policy of the city.

Lee Jae-myung is noted for his decision to ban dog meat and to shut down dog slaughtering facilities in Moran Market.

Lee Jae-myung heavily criticized the response of Park Geun-hye to the Sinking of MV Sewol.

Lee Jae-myung held an 11 day fast in response to plans by Park to reorganize local government's fiscal responsibilities, which would've severely hurt Buddhist groups across the country, including those in Seongnam.

Lee Jae-myung was the first liberal Governor of Gyeonggi since Lim Chang-yeol twenty years earlier.

Lee Jae-myung received acclaim for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic as governor.

In March 2020, when the nation's first COVID-19 wave took place, following an infection cluster among followers of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, Lee Jae-myung visited the residence of the organization's founder in Gyeonggi Province.

Lee Jae-myung warned the founder of the potential legal and administrative actions, and secured the founder's cooperation.

Lee Jae-myung announced a special order for all foreigners working in Gyeonggi Province to be tested for COVID-19.

In February 2021, a year after the first Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting was held to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, it was revealed that Lee Jae-myung attended only three meetings, while the average number of meetings attended by provincial and municipal leaders was 68.5.

Lee Jae-myung resigned as governor to focus on his bid for the presidency on 25 October 2021.

On 2 January 2024, Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the left side of his neck while holding a question and answer session with reporters after touring the construction site of a planned new airport located on Gadeokdo in Busan.

Lee Jae-myung gained international attention in 2024 when, after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law and attempted to stop the National Assembly from convening using the military, continued to go to the Assembly building anyway.

Lee Jae-myung started a livestream on his YouTube channel, recording himself climbing the National Assembly building fence to bypass the military personnel.

Lee Jae-myung stated that he thought the martial law declaration was, initially, a deepfake.

Lee Jae-myung afterwards led the charge to impeach Yoon, with himself frequently rallying against the President outside the Assembly building, claiming that Yoon committed treason.

In March 2025, Lee Jae-myung was cleared of a previous accusation of violating election law by a South Korean appeals court.

At a series of protests that took place across the country, Lee Jae-myung attracted national attention with his strong speeches, stating that "President Park Geun-hye is no longer our president".

Lee Jae-myung ranked second in various public opinion polls after Moon Jae-in in the Democratic Party 2017 primary.

Lee Jae-myung was second to Ahn Hee-jung, who placed second with 353,631 votes, and Moon Jae-in, who won 936,419 votes and a majority.

Lee Jae-myung would go on to defeat Hong Joon-pyo, Ahn Cheol-soo, Yoo Seung-min, and Sim Sang-jung to win the Presidency.

Lee Jae-myung declared his bid in the 2022 presidential election in July 2021, and emphasized policies that would ensure equality for people of all backgrounds in the nation, and heighten Korea's standing abroad as a nation that provides public goods for global communities.

Lee Jae-myung became the nominee of the Democratic Party of Korea on 10 October 2021.

Lee Jae-myung won a majority of the votes in the primary and made it directly to the presidential election without a runoff.

On 9 April 2025, five days after the April 4 impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, Lee Jae-myung resigned as leader of the Democratic Party.

Lee Jae-myung tends to run a policy platform close to the centre-left in the Democratic Party of Korea.

Lee Jae-myung announced his overarching economic policy vision as "Transformative and Fair Growth".

Lee Jae-myung asserts that the slowdown of economic growth is related to the unfairness and polarization in many areas of the economy: for example, the gap between big monopolies and small and medium-sized enterprises, the differences between platforms and irregular workers, and inequalities in the real estate market.

Unlike most South Korean liberals, Lee Jae-myung often speaks favorably of former dictator Park Chung Hee.

When Lee Jae-myung evaluated Chun Doo-hwan's economic performance favourably on 11 December 2021, he was criticized by South Korea's liberal camp.

The Justice Party's Sim Sang-jung said of Lee Jae-myung, "You seem to have become a presidential candidate for the [conservative] People Power Party while trying to differentiate yourself from the Moon Jae-in government".

One of Lee Jae-myung's signature 2022 presidential campaign pledges was a promise to implement universal basic income.

Lee Jae-myung pledged to introduce a universal basic income scheme at the national level for the first time in the world.

Lee Jae-myung proposed the basic income plan would be financed by land value tax and carbon tax.

Lee Jae-myung stressed that these taxes were necessary to curb real estate speculation and reduce carbon emissions.

Lee Jae-myung advocated for these government-backed loan to the public as a safer alternative to borrowing money from loan sharks or private money lenders.

Lee Jae-myung implemented the world's first data dividend, which returns the portion of the profit created by data-related business to the consumers who actually created the data.

Lee Jae-myung used data analysis to combat African swine fever and prosecute illegal construction companies.

Lee Jae-myung provided a mobile app to monitor the movements of COVID-19 confirmed patients without violating privacy and revealing personal information, using data encryption technology.

Lee Jae-myung argues that the monopoly situation of big platform companies with network effects could be as an obstacle to fair growth of the digital sector, and argues that workers employed by platform enterprises should have new types of employment contracts so that they could be better protected in the digital era.

Lee Jae-myung has stated that this shift will require government support to alleviate difficulties that might arise from the economic adjustment.

Lee Jae-myung is known to be a strong supporter of free trade.

Lee Jae-myung opposes restrictions against South Korean semiconductor items due to US trade protectionism.

Lee Jae-myung said that in middle school teachers would determine student performance through summative assessments, and that he planned to launch a basic math curriculum through a 'high school credit system' in high school to make up for underachievement.

Lee Jae-myung suggested introducing AI-based personalized learning and evaluation in some subjects, such as mathematics, to strengthen individualized learning and evaluation throughout elementary and middle school.

Lee Jae-myung proposed an 'outdoor school' that fosters the challenges, adventures, cooperation, and curiosity necessary for adolescent growth.

Lee Jae-myung promised universal basic income and universal basic loans specifically for youth.

Lee Jae-myung planned to provide one-time employment benefits to youth that voluntarily resigned from a job, in order to support job searching and career development.

Lee Jae-myung planned to lower student loan interest rates and allow university tuition to be proportional to the credits students take each semester.

However, Lee Jae-myung stated more recently that he is against passing anti-discrimination laws with LGBTQ protection unilaterally without social consensus, and would not let it pass under his watch.

On 8 November 2021, Lee distributed an article to participants of the National Election Commission stating, "If Lee Jae-Myung differentiates himself from the Moon Jae-in government's feminist-first policy, he can gain support from young men".

Lee Jae-myung strongly opposes the "abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family" supported by the right-wing conservative camp.

Lee Jae-myung criticized Yoon Suk-Yeol's claim that structural gender inequality and misogyny do not exist in modern South Korean society and insisted on resolving structural gender discrimination.

Also Lee Jae-myung has called for a public apology for the Yoon Suk-Yeol's comments that women are no longer discriminated against.

Lee Jae-myung criticizes conservatives' immigration policies for focusing on securing simple labor and is actively interested in the human rights of foreign workers.

Lee Jae-myung revealed his diplomats about the United States and neighboring countries China and Japan as presidential candidates, while seeking friendly relations with North Korea.

Lee Jae-myung announced a comprehensive foreign policy plan on 22 August 2021.

Lee Jae-myung emphasized that the aim of foreign policy should be focused on improving the quality of the people and it should be practical to enhance national interest.

Lee Jae-myung stated that he will continue the efforts of previous liberal presidents to conduct peace talks with North Korea, citing President Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy, President Roh Moo-hyun's summit with Kim Jong Il, and President Moon Jae-in's peace talks with North Korea.

Lee Jae-myung believes in good relations with the US military, which has its main bases in his province.

Lee Jae-myung expressed his position on the issue between the US and China in South Korea's foreign policy, saying that the US is Korea's only ally and that friendly relations with the US are the most important.

Lee Jae-myung stated that while the United States is South Korea's only ally, China is a strategic partner.

In 2022, Lee Jae-myung said that if a Chinese fishing boat illegally breaks into South Korean waters, he would sink it.

In 2024, Lee Jae-myung criticized President Yoon for unnecessarily "antagonizing" China and creating a trade deficit with the country for the first time in decades.

In regards to relations with Japan, Lee Jae-myung promotes a "two track strategy" to actively promote economic, social, and diplomatic exchange and cooperation while resolutely dealing with historical issues, territorial sovereignty, and the life and safety of the people.

Lee Jae-myung has a certain pro-American tendency, such as strong support for military alliance and military cooperation with the United States, but he is very opposed to military training between the three countries in which Japan participates and accuses conservatives who support it as "far-right chinil acts".

In 2016, Lee Jae-myung said in an interview with an NHK reporter that Japan is South Korea's de facto 'enemy country' in military.

Lee Jae-myung argues that if Japan increases its military power, it will be the first to invade South Korea.

However, while critical of "Japanese imperialism", Lee Jae-myung is not opposed to the South Korea-Japan military agreement, GSOMIA, to maintain friendly relations with the United States, which calls for military cooperation between South Korea and Japan.

On 1 March 2018, Lee Jae-myung said that Japan which he referred to as "an aggressor country", rather than Korea, should have been divided into two countries following the Pacific War.

Lee Jae-myung claimed that Korea, not Japan, was wrong to be divided.

Lee Jae-myung opposes the Russian invasion of Ukraine and does not oppose partial sanctions against Russia.

Lee Jae-myung strongly opposes South Korean conservatives' support for the possibility of arms aid to Ukraine, which he fears will negatively affect the South Korean economy.

Lee Jae-myung was represented by several lawyers including two former Supreme Court justices.

In March 2023, Lee Jae-myung was indicted on bribery, corruption, breach of trust and conflict of interests charges.

Lee Jae-myung said the indictment was "not surprising at all" and denied the accusations.

Lee Jae-myung claimed the investigation was politically motivated and led by the Yoon Administration to take down a political opponent.

On that day, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon issued an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, marking a historic first, as the motion passed during a heated plenary session with 136 lawmakers opposing it.

In June 2024, Lee Jae-myung was indicted again, on bribery charges in an alleged scheme to transfer funds to North Korea and facilitate a visit to Pyongyang.

Lee Jae-myung was accused of asking an underwear company to illegally transfer $8 million to North Korea between 2019 and 2020, during his tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province, to facilitate a visit.

Lee Jae-myung appealed the Public Official Election Act verdict between 21 November 2024 and 27 March 2025, the Seoul High Court acquitted Lee Jae-myung.

On 24 March 2025, Lee Jae-myung was fined 3 million won by the Seoul Central District Court for defying an order to testify in the Seongnam Development Corporation case for a second time.