Yoon Suk Yeol, representative of the conservative People Power Party, has been president since 2022.

He was elected by a razor-thin margin, less than a percentage point ahead of his rival Lee Jae-myung – a member of the Democratic Party.

Yoon was a newcomer to politics, having spent the last 27 years of his career as a prosecutor.

Here is an introduction to its platform and policies:

Hardliners on North Korea: While his predecessor Moon Jae-in favored dialogue with Pyongyang, Yoon took a tougher stance. He promised to beef up South Korea’s military and even hinted that he would launch a preemptive strike if he saw signs of an offensive against Seoul.

Tightrope walk between the USA and China: South Korea finds itself in the unenviable position of having close ties with two warring global superpowers: the United States and China.

While Lee suggested that he would try to balance both partnerships, Yoon made it clear what his priorities would be.

“South Korea and the United States share a bloody alliance as we have fought together to protect freedom against the tyranny of communism,” Yoon said during his campaign.

Since Donald Trump won the election to his second term last month, South Korea’s presidential office told CNN that Yoon “played golf for the first time in eight years, in preparation for ‘Gulf diplomacy'” with the president-elect.

Problems at home: Yoon inherited a country still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic and where corruption polarizes politics – and gender equality.

The gender war in South Korea intensified in the run-up to the election, with young voters increasingly divided along gender lines.

Amid a fiercely competitive job market and skyrocketing real estate prices, so-called “anti-feminists” claimed the country’s efforts to address gender inequality have tilted too far in favor of women.

Feminists, meanwhile, pointed to the country’s widespread sexual violence, deeply rooted gender expectations and low representation of women in boardrooms and politics as examples of how discrimination against women is still widespread.