SEOUL: A rarity among politicians in status-obsessed South Korea, former child factory worker Lee Jae-myung rose to become a presidential contender, telling voters his working-class roots equipped him to fight inequality.
Lee, who was under treatment in Seoul after being stabbed in the neck on Tuesday (Jan 2), lost the tightest presidential election in South Korean history to Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022. The motive behind the attack was unknown.
Leading the country's main opposition party, Lee has since been a staunch critic of President Yoon, and is widely expected to run for the top office again in 2027.
"I had to work in a factory because I couldn't pay for school," he told AFP before the 2022 election.
"My parents were cleaners. I escaped poverty, but many around me are still stuck ... I want to change the system."
Lee's political rise coincided with growing worries about inequality, sky-high housing prices and youth unemployment.
His time in elected office has been marked by policies including cash handouts to young adults, free school uniforms and free maternity care.
He has previously vowed to expand his universal basic income scheme nationwide as president.
While his supporters say these policies are rooted in Lee's own experience and empathy for the less fortunate, his opponents accuse him of being a populist who will pile on debt to pay for these schemes.
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2024-01-02 09:07:00Z
CBMie2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9zb3V0aC1rb3JlYS1sZWUtamFlLW15dW5nLWZhY3Rvcnktd29ya2VyLW9wcG9zaXRpb24tbGVhZGVyLXdvcmtpbmctY2xhc3Mtcm9vdHMtNDAyMDcyNtIBAA
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