Three-Time Presidential Candidate Finally Tops the Poll: How Will "Grassroots Politician" Lee Jae-myung, the New President of South Korea, Promise Crypto and AI?
Author: KarenZ, Foresight News
On June 4th at 06:15, the National Election Management Commission of South Korea held a plenary meeting and officially confirmed that the Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung was elected president according to the vote counting results of the 21st presidential election. Lee Jae-myung immediately began his presidential term.
According to the Korea JoongAng Daily, the vote count showed that Lee Jae-myung won with 49.42% of the votes in this presidential election, while the People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo received 41.15%, and the Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok received 8.34%.
With Lee Jae-myung's election as the president of South Korea, whether the institutionalization process of the country's digital asset industry will be accelerated has attracted widespread attention.
Why Did Lee Jae-myung Win the Election?
Lee Jae-myung's victory in this election can be attributed to several factors:
First, former President Yoon Suk-yeol caused a constitutional crisis by implementing a brief martial law in December 2024, leading to his impeachment and removal from office in April 2025, which sparked strong public dissatisfaction. The voter turnout in this election reached 79.4%, the highest since 1997, reflecting the public's strong desire for political change.
Lee Jae-myung quickly announced his presidential candidacy after Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment and actively campaigned, emphasizing repairing relations with China, improving domestic economic and social issues, which gained broad support. As a representative of the progressive faction, Lee Jae-myung skillfully balanced the dual demands of "seeking change" and "seeking stability".
Secondly, Lee Jae-myung narrowly lost to Yoon Suk-yeol in the 2022 presidential election, accumulating a solid political foundation and visibility.
Additionally, Lee Jae-myung's personal political experience and image worked in his favor. Coming from a humble background, he started working after elementary school, later entered a prestigious university through self-study, and became a human rights lawyer involved in civil rights movements. These experiences helped him establish a deep connection with ordinary people and strengthen his support base. His story of rising from a poor background resonated deeply with the anxieties of the middle and lower classes in South Korean society.
Moreover, Lee Jae-myung's campaign platform directly addressed the pain points of South Korean society, proposing diplomatic diversification, economic revitalization, focusing on people's livelihood, promoting AI development, and implementing crypto-friendly policies (such as promoting Bitcoin spot ETF and issuing Korean won stablecoins), which gained recognition from many citizens.
What Measures and Promises Does Lee Jae-myung Have Regarding Crypto?
During the 2025 South Korean presidential campaign, Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party proposed several measures and promises regarding Crypto, including promoting the drafting of the "Digital Asset Basic Law", institutionalizing Security Token Offering (STO), introducing virtual asset spot ETFs, and promoting stablecoins based on the Korean won, aiming to attract young voters, promote economic growth, and enhance the autonomy of South Korea's financial system.
Virtual Asset Spot ETF: According to the Korea Economic Daily, Lee Jae-myung proposed a youth policy commitment on May 6th, focusing on introducing virtual asset spot ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). Lee Jae-myung promised to "create a safe investment environment that allows young people to accumulate assets and plan for the future", including promoting the institutionalization of virtual asset spot ETFs and establishing a unified regulatory system.
Token Securities: Lee Jae-myung promised to legislate and regulate token securities. According to a previous analysis by Yonhap News, the "Token Securities Law" (amendments to the Capital Market Act and Electronic Securities Act) had already reached a consensus between parties in the previous National Assembly, and although delayed due to the impeachment case, it is expected to be passed smoothly after this presidential election.
Allowing National Pension Fund to Invest in Virtual Assets: According to Fnnews, on May 17th, Lee Jae-myung's campaign committee announced that they would establish a system for the National Pension Service to directly invest in cryptocurrencies. They stated that pension fund investments in digital assets are not speculative behavior, but a controlled and scientific diversified investment strategy following international optimization models. The committee emphasized: "Emotionally rejecting digital assets would cause South Korea to fall behind in the global financial trend, lose monetary sovereignty, and miss opportunities for national asset appreciation - that would be the real risk."
It is worth noting that according to Yonhap News, the fund operation committee of the National Pension Service (NPS) held its third meeting this year on May 29th and reviewed and approved the "Mid-term Asset Allocation Plan for the National Pension Fund from 2026 to 2030". The core of the plan is to improve the fund's profitability and stability and delay the point of pension fund deficit as much as possible. The main plan is to reduce the proportion of domestic stock investments while expanding overseas stock and alternative investment scales. By the end of 2030, the target weight of each asset class is set at approximately 55% for stocks, 30% for bonds, and 15% for alternative investments.
The committee also reviewed and approved the "2026 National Pension Fund Management Plan (Draft)" reflecting the target allocation ratios for various asset classes by 2026. By the end of 2026, the target allocation ratios for each asset class will be: domestic stocks 14.4%, overseas stocks 38.9%, domestic bonds 23.7%, overseas bonds 8%, and alternative investments 15%.
According to the Korea Economic News, through pension reform by raising insurance rates, the accumulated fund of the Korean National Pension is expected to increase from the current 12 trillion won (approximately $87.3 billion) to 36 trillion won by 2053 (over $2.6 billion).
This means that, based on the current scale of the Korean National Pension accumulated fund, if the alternative investment ratio reaches 15% by the end of 2026, $130.95 billion could be invested in alternative asset areas such as real estate, private equity, infrastructure, and hedge funds. If the Korean National Pension ventures into virtual asset investments, it can only be arranged within this category, and everyone can imagine what proportion could be used for virtual asset investments.
It is worth emphasizing that NPS also holds Coinbase and Strategy stocks. According to Yonhap News in August 2024, NPS purchased 282,673 Coinbase shares in the third quarter of 2023, and bought 245,000 MicroStrategy (now renamed Strategy) shares for approximately $33.74 million in the second quarter of 2024 (currently valued at $109.5 million), though it sold 23,956 Coinbase shares in the second quarter of 2024.
However, according to Money Today in September 2024, NPS explained that these stocks are not held for virtual asset investment purposes, but are passively held because they are included in the benchmark index. The Korean National Pension Fund's overseas stock investment primarily uses two methods: passive index tracking of MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International Index) and commissioned asset management through individual stock investments. The Korean National Pension Fund stated that the Coinbase and MicroStrategy stocks are automatically purchased due to inclusion in the tracked benchmark index or acquired through commissioned management.
Korean Won Stablecoin: Lee Jae-myung proposed creating a stablecoin based on the Korean won to curb capital outflow and enhance the stability of the Korean financial system. According to the Asian Economic Network in Korea, Lee Jae-myung stated on May 8th in a policy discussion that "to prevent the outflow of national wealth, a stablecoin market based on the Korean won needs to be constructed". According to data obtained by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Min Byung-deok from Korea's five major virtual asset exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Cobbit, and Gopax on May 8th, the total virtual assets flowing out of domestic exchanges from January to March exceeded 56.8 trillion won, of which 47.30% (26.87 trillion won) were dollar-based stablecoins like USDT and USDC.
(Translation continues in the same manner for the remaining text)Mayor of Seongnam City (2010-2018): Elected as the mayor of Seongnam City in 2010 and re-elected in the mayoral election in 2014. During his tenure, he cleared nearly 700 billion won in city debt, implemented welfare policies such as free school uniforms and youth dividends, and opened part of the city government building as a public space, creating a precedent in Korean political history. However, he sparked controversy by dissolving the Seongnam City short track speed skating team, which indirectly led to skater Ahn Hyun-soo winning an Olympic gold medal for Russia.
Governor of Gyeonggi Province (2018-2021): Elected as the governor of Gyeonggi Province in 2018 with 56.4% of the vote, promoting policies such as "Universal Basic Income". During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he decisively searched the headquarters of the Shincheonji Church when church leaders refused to cooperate with government investigations, receiving public approval.
Democratic Party Leadership Election: Elected as the leader of the Democratic Party in August 2022. On June 24, 2024, Lee Jae-myung resigned from the party leadership position, and was re-elected in August with 85.4% of the vote. On April 9, 2025, Lee Jae-myung resigned from the Democratic Party leadership to focus on the presidential election.
Presidential Election: Announced his presidential candidacy in 2021 and ran for the Democratic Party in 2022, narrowly losing to Yoon Suk-yeol by 0.73% with 47.83% of the vote. In April 2025, Lee Jae-myung officially announced his candidacy for the 21st Korean Presidential Election as the Democratic Party's nominee. On June 4, 2025, the National Election Commission formally confirmed Lee Jae-myung's election as president based on the vote count of the 21st Presidential Election.
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