South Korea’s opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has been sworn in as president following a decisive snap election victory, after campaigning on a platform that included a range of pro-crypto policies.
Lee claimed victory in the June 3 election held six months after the country’s previous leader, Yoon Suk-yeol, declared martial law and threw the nation into political chaos.
With 99% of the votes counted on June 4, the center-left Democratic Party’s Lee fetched over 49% of votes against the 41% won by rival conservative People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo, according to National Election Commission data.
Reuters reported that almost 80% of South Korea’s 44.4 million eligible voters cast their ballots in the highest turnout for a presidential election since 1997.
Satoshi Action Fund founder Dennis Porter, who was in South Korea on election day, said the turnout figure was “wild,” while noting that Lee has committed to allowing South Korea’s $884 billion national pension fund to invest in Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto and has also promised to allow the launch Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Lee also has ambitions to launch a Korean Won-backed stablecoin to modernize the country’s financial system and stem capital outflows.
“We need to establish a won-backed stablecoin market to prevent national wealth from leaking overseas,” he said during a policy discussion in May.
Kim also ran a campaign that supported the launch of spot crypto ETFs and pledged to ease regulations and expand crypto adoption.
Bitcoin prices spiked to 149,000 won ($108,480) on the country’s leading exchanges, Bithumb and Upbit, as the so-called kimchi premium saw the asset trade almost 2% higher compared to global exchanges, where it topped around $106,600 before retreating slightly.
Lee to also tackle raft of policy decisions
Lee is taking office as South Korea faces significant challenges, including economic struggles with rising living costs, ongoing trade negotiations with the US and regional geopolitical tensions.
It’s not clear how high he will prioritize his crypto-related promises, but in addressing crowds of supporters in the country’s capital of Seoul, Lee promised to “work to restore the economy” from day one and to ensure military coups are a thing of the past.
Lee has promised to focus on economic recovery through increased investment in artificial intelligence and defense, to depoliticize the prosecution system, and to introduce social changes, including a four-and-a-half-day work week.