He accused Zelensky of starting the war and earned his ratings by saying that it is unacceptable to give weapons to Ukraine. We tell you about the president of South Korea, who is accused of sympathizing with North Korea

His hand was crushed by a factory press. After that, Lee tried to commit suicide twice, and then went into politics

The second day of the full-scale invasion, February 25, 2022. Lee Jae Myung — then a presidential candidate in South Korea — takes part in a TV debate and says that foreign policy cannot be trusted to inexperienced people.

He cites Zelensky as an example, saying that a rookie politician became president, began to seek Ukraineʼs membership in NATO, thereby provoking Russia, and thatʼs it. It led to war. This statement caused public outrage, and Lee had to explain that he condemned the Russian invasion and did not want to shift the blame to Ukraine.

Lee grew up in a very poor large family in Andong, the fifth of seven children. The family sometimes picked up food that vendors threw away at the market. After moving to industrial Seongnam, they all lived together in a small semi-basement room near the market. His mother cleaned public restrooms, and his father worked odd jobs.

After elementary school, Lee dropped out of school and went to work. At his first job, he soldered cheap jewelry for twelve hours. Then he moved from company to company. At one of the factories, he worked with toxic substances and, according to him, lost his sense of smell after that.

Later, Lee was seriously injured at a baseball glove factory. While working, an industrial press pinched his left wrist and crushed the joint. There was no money for treatment, the fracture did not heal properly, and his arm remained permanently crooked.

Later, because of this injury, Lee was disabled and discharged from military service.

Lee Jae Myung in 1978, when he worked at a baseball glove factory in Seongnam.

Особистий архів Лі Чже Мьона

Lee Jae Myung shows his left hand, which was injured by a factory press as a teenager.

Особистий архів Лі Чже Мьона

Lee later linked the hand injury to one of the most difficult periods of his life. At the age of seventeen, he decided to end his life. The first time he wanted to poison himself with carbon monoxide, but the attempt failed.

A few days later, he decided to try again. He went to several pharmacies and, explaining that he could not sleep, collected a sleeping pill. Then he returned to his room, wrote a suicide note and swallowed the pills. He was found by his sisterʼs husband, and Lee survived again.

He later explained that after these attempts, he decided that if he didn’t die, he would try to live better.

After work, Lee began to study. In order not to fall asleep over his books, he would put a drawing pin on the table — if his head dropped, it would prick him. He passed his middle and high school exams as an external examiner, received a scholarship to Chung-Ang University, and in 1986 he passed the bar exam and became a labor and human rights lawyer.

In 2006, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Seongnam for the first time, won the election in 2010 and governed the city for two terms. Then his career went up rapidly. In 2018, he became the governor of Gyeonggi Province, and in 2022, a deputy to the National Assembly and chairman of the Democratic Party.

Lee likes to emphasize that he is a man of the people and does not belong to the Seoul elite.

Lee Jae Myung with his mother at Chung-an University, where he entered in 1982.

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Lawyer Lee Jae Myung in a South Korean TV story, March 16, 1998.

Особистий архів Лі Чже Мьона

Lee entered the 2022 presidential election as the main candidate from the Democrats. His opponent was Yoon Seok Yeol (a former prosecutor general who entered politics just a year before the election and became the candidate of the conservative “People Power” Party). Lee lost by only 0.73% points: Yoon received 48.56% of the vote, while he received 47.83%.

After his defeat in the election, Lee headed the “Democratic Party” and became the leader of the opposition, which at that time controlled the parliament. A protracted political war began between the parliament and the president: the Democrats blocked government initiatives, demanded budget cuts, and repeatedly initiated the resignations of ministers, prosecutors, and heads of state agencies.

Meanwhile, Lee himself found himself under investigation and trial in several criminal cases — the main charges related to corruption, abuse of power, and financial fraud during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam and governor of Gyeonggi Province.

Yoon accused the opposition of paralyzing the work of the state, a confrontation that reached its climax in late 2024.

A man in a blue crown asked Lee for an autograph and stuck a knife in his neck

In early 2024, on January 2, Lee — as the leader of the main opposition “Democratic Party” — arrived on the Kadok Island near Busan to inspect the construction of a future airport. He was surrounded by journalists and supporters. Among them, there was a man in a blue paper crown with the inscription “Iʼm Lee Jae Myung”.

As the investigation later established, he had been following the politician for several months. Pretending to be a supporter, the man approached Lee closely and asked for an autograph, and then abruptly rushed forward and stuck a knife into his neck. Lee fell, assistants began to clamp the wound, from which blood was pouring. People around him knocked the attacker to the ground.

The politician was first taken to a hospital in Busan, and then sent by helicopter to Seoul for surgery. The blade damaged the jugular vein, but, fortunately for Lee, did not touch the carotid artery, he was operated on for about two hours.

The attacker, who is currently serving a 15-year sentence in prison, said during interrogations that he wanted to kill Lee so that he would never become president.

Lee recovered and rejoined the political struggle. Late in the evening of December 3, 2024, President Yoon Seokv Yeol declared martial law — the first in South Korea in over 40 years. Yoon said that opposition lawmakers were paralyzing the work of the state and that the country was threatened by “pro-North Korean anti-state forces”.

For the duration of the martial law, Yoon banned political activity, and the military went to the parliament building. The South Korean constitution stipulates that the president is obliged to lift martial law if a majority of deputies demand it. So everything depended on whether the MPs who disagreed with the president would physically have time to gather in parliament before the military blocked the building.

Lee set off for parliament, broadcasting live on his phone. When he arrived at the building, police had already blocked the entrances. Then the 60-year-old opposition leader climbed over the fence of the National Assembly, which was watched live by viewers of his broadcast. Lee called on people to gather outside the parliament and help the MPs get inside.

In the end, 190 of the 300 MPs reached the hall, and all of them voted to lift martial law. Lee won. Within two weeks the parliament impeached Yoon, and a month later he was arrested and sent to the Seoul Detention Center.

In March 2025, Yoon was released from custody, but on April 4, the Constitutional Court finally removed him from office.

On June 3, 2025, South Korea held a snap presidential election. Lee won with 49.42% of the vote and took office the next day.

Yoon was re-arrested in July, and on February 19, 2026, he was found guilty of sedition and sentenced to life in prison. He is appealing the sentence.

South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol declares martial law during a televised address, Seoul, December 3, 2024.

Getty Images / «Babel'»

Opposition leader Lee Jae Myung speaks to reporters in parliament after declaring martial law, Seoul, December 2024.

Getty Images / «Babel'»

When Lee became president, he had five criminal cases pending against him simultaneously. In one, prosecutors allege that North Korea transferred $3 million to organize Leeʼs trip to Pyongyang

At the time of his election, Lee was charged with five criminal offenses: making false statements during the election, corruption surrounding the Seongnam development, misappropriating funds from the province he headed, inciting false testimony, and illegally transferring funds to North Korea.

Lee denied all charges and called the prosecution politically motivated. After his inauguration, the courts suspended all five trials, citing the constitutional immunity of the incumbent president.

The North Korean case caused the greatest resonance. In 2019-2020, when Lee was governor of Gyeonggi Province, the South Korean group “Ssangbangwool” (which started as a manufacturer of underwear) transferred $8 million to North Korea. The company was connected with the provincial administration by Leeʼs deputy Hwa Yong (who before his appointment was a member of the board of directors of “Ssangbangwool”, and in Leeʼs administration was responsible for cooperation with the DPRK).

According to the prosecutorʼs office, “Ssangbangwool” transferred $5 million to Gyeonggiʼs project to create automated greenhouses in the DPRK — the so-called “smart farms” — and another $3 million to organize Lee Jae Myungʼs visit to Pyongyang.

In return, the company counted on the support of the Gyeonggi administration in its future projects in North Korea. Hwa Yong is serving a seven-year sentence for bribery and illegal money transfers to the DPRK, Lee insists he knew nothing about it.

Lee has stopped loudspeakers at the border, offers Kim to freeze nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, and wants to officially end the Korean War. Pyongyang responds with missiles and insults

A week after taking office, Lee ordered the shutdown of South Korean loudspeakers along the demilitarized zone. For more than a year, they had been broadcasting news, propaganda, and K-pop songs to the North.

Lee explained this by saying that it was time to stop the “exhausting hostility” and restore communication channels with the North.

In August 2026, he proposed that Pyongyang begin talks to formally end the Korean War, which ended in an armistice in 1953. There is still no peace treaty.

At the same time, Lee proposed abandoning South Koreaʼs long-standing doctrine that negotiations and the lifting of international sanctions are possible after the DPRK eliminates its nuclear arsenal.

Lee proposes moving in a different direction: first, the DPRK stops building up its nuclear arsenal and receives partial relief from pressure, then the parties move on to reducing their stockpiles and only in the long term, to complete nuclear disarmament of the DPRK.

In June 2026, Lee publicly stated that current sanctions against the DPRK were not actually working, because Pyongyang was getting everything it needed through Russia and China.

In September, he called on the US to consider easing sanctions against the DPRK. This despite the fact that North Korea has shown no signs of readiness for negotiations, and Kim Jong Unʼs sister openly mocks Lee, calling South Korea a "puppet" of the US.

Ukraine asked for weapons back in April 2022. Seoul refused. Then it asked for air defense, shells, and more air defense. Each time it received the same answer

On April 8, 2022, the then Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov called his South Korean colleague and asked for anti-aircraft weapons. Seoul refused immediately — the South Korean Ministry of Defense stated that it would not supply Ukraine with lethal weapons.

Three days later, Zelensky tried to convince the South Korean parliament. The Russian army had just been expelled from the Kyiv region, and the world had already seen Bucha. Zelensky reminded the Koreans of their own war and listed almost everything that could help Ukraine: air defense systems, aircraft, tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, ammunition, anti-tank and anti-ship weapons.

“You have it,” he said.

The speech made an impression on the Korean MPs, they applauded Zelensky, but it did not affect Seoul’s position. Lee was the leader of the opposition at the time, and opposition to aid to Ukraine was one of his main topics.

In April 2023, President Yoon publicly admitted that under extraordinary circumstances — such as a large-scale attack on civilians — it might be difficult for South Korea to limit itself to humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Lee called a press conference and urged President Yoon not to even think about helping Ukraine with weapons. Lee’s main argument was the ties of Korean business to the Russians. By his calculations, there were about 150 South Korean companies operating in Russia at the time, with assets worth $5.7 billion.

He said that supplying weapons to Ukraine could effectively mean closing their businesses. There is a certain irony in the fact that most Korean companies either eventually left Russia anyway or had new Russian owners.

In April 2023, under pressure from the Biden administration, Seoul agreed to transfer approximately 500 000 155-mm shells to the United States. Formally, the Americans were to use them to replenish their own warehouses, and they gave their shells to Ukraine. This was the only such action.

In May of the same year, Zelensky again asked for air defense and early warning systems and specifically emphasized that these were defensive weapons that were supposed to shoot down missiles over cities, not attack Russia. Seoul refused again. In the summer of 2024, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed a treaty on mutual military assistance.

At that time, Pyongyang was already systematically sending huge shipments of ammunition to Russia. President Yoon suggested revising the ban on providing lethal weapons to Ukraine. The matter did not go further than the statements.

In the fall of 2024, it became known that North Korean soldiers were already literally fighting on the ground on the side of Russia.

At the end of November, a Ukrainian delegation led by then-Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrived in Seoul. According to Reuters, they discussed air defense systems and artillery ammunition behind closed doors. There were encouraging statements from the Koreans, but there was no result.

South Korean authorities usually refer to their legal restrictions, but there is no direct ban on selling or transferring weapons to a country at war. The export of military products requires permission from the state agency DAPA, and the government can refuse for reasons of national security, international stability, or the risk of diplomatic conflict, so the final decision is always political.

Public opinion in South Korea is also not in favor of Ukraine. In a “Gallup Korea” poll in October 2024, after reports of North Korean military personnel in Russia, 66% of respondents supported only humanitarian aid to Ukraine, 13% supported military aid, and another 16% did not want to help at all.

At the same time, 73% considered the military rapprochement between Russia and the DPRK a serious threat to South Korea, but even this threat did not convince the majority of Koreans to arm Ukraine.

After Lee became president, Seoulʼs position became radical — his administration would not provide direct lethal aid to Ukraine

In June 2026, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha flew to Seoul. He stated bluntly that Ukraine was ready to purchase longer-range artillery ammunition, additional air defense systems, and “Patriot” missiles.

In August, Zelensky once again said that Ukraine was “desperately hoping” to receive air defense from South Korea. Seoul responded that defense exports were carried out in accordance with Korean law.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the Joe Biden administration demanded that allies synchronize sanctions against Russia with Washington. Seoul initially tried to agree that the new US restrictions would not apply to South Korean companies.

Although, on February 28, 2022, it banned exports of strategic goods to Russia and began restricting 57 more product categories that the US controlled separately, including microelectronics, telecommunications equipment, sensors, navigation and aviation equipment, marine equipment, and aircraft components.

South Korea also joined in disconnecting some Russian banks from the international payment system SWIFT.

Some large Korean companies have suspended production or left Russia (“Hyundai”, for example, sold its St. Petersburg plant and refused to buy it back in 2026). Others have stayed. “Lotte” still lists Russia among the countries where it has hotel, confectionery, chemical, and construction businesses.

In April 2026, noodle manufacturer “Nongshim” reported that it was opening a subsidiary in Moscow and plans to use Russia as a base for expansion into the CIS countries.

In the spring of 2026, when oil supplies were disrupted by the US war on Iran, the “LG Chem” bought 27 000 tons of Russian crude oil after a four-year hiatus — legally, under a temporary relaxation of US restrictions.

In July, traders shipped about 30 000 tons of diesel and other refined fuels from South Korea to Russia — just as Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure increased Moscow’s need for imports.