When South Koreans elect a new president on Tuesday, it will end months of domestic political unrest – but their choices could bring significant changes to the country’s relations with the United States.

Lee Jae-Myung, the leader of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, had a clear lead in election polls, when President Yoon Suk Yeol was held for six months and Yoon Suk Yeol plunged more than 50 million East Asian democracy into a sudden declared martial arts.

South Korea has been in a leadership vacuum since lawmakers raided in December and stirred up in a series of acting presidents. Although President Donald Trump slapped with a 25% "countdown" tariff (and other taxes), uncertainty also restricted Washington's U.S. allies.

The president's by-election was launched in April, when the South Korean Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment each and he promised to return to stability, with South Koreans voting early on record numbers.

“A lot of people just want to keep going because it’s been six months,” said Jennifer Lee, principal of the Washington Asian Group Corporate Consulting, who recently returned from a trip to South Korea.

Lee Jae-Myung, 61, nearly lost to the Yuan Dynasty in 2022 and is regarded as the most likely next president to be the imp.

But Rob York, regional director of the Honolulu Foreign Policy Institute, said public support for Lee was more angry with Yin's conservative People's Power Party than reached an agreement with Lee's policy stance.

"I don't think the enthusiasm for him is particularly strong," York said. "He's not a particularly inspiring figure for a number of reasons, but the Conservatives are now tainted."

Lee's opportunity further raises the fact that a conservative vote was held between Kim Moon Soo, a candidate for the People's Power, and Lee Jun-Seok, a young MP from the upstart reform party, who has been controversial with his anti-feminist rhetoric.

Although Lee moved toward the center during the campaign, he was generally considered to be more open to China and North Korea than his predecessors, and not to Japan’s friendly sphere, as part of a trilateral security partnership with the United States and South Korea.

Jennifer Lee of Asia Group said that because Yoon is “so friendly and core us”, it seems unlikely that the relationship between the United States and South Korea will remain strong.

“I think there will be more balance between the United States and China,” she said.

Despite this, candidate Lee is still supporting the Southern South Korean Alliance and has begun contact with the Trump administration. Lee said in an interview last week that Trump “has excellent skills in negotiations” and that both he and Trump are just looking for the interests of the people.

Although he doesn't fit Trump's conservative view, Lee's past populist outspoken style has been nicknamed "Trump of South Korea."

Like Trump, Lee survived last year, and was stabbed while visiting Busan City.

“From a personality perspective, I think they’re both together, and if they were in the room together, they might get along,” York said. “They’re both people who see themselves as traders and I think they’re more concerned with making deals that make them both look good.”

One of Lee's first tasks will be a deal on tariffs that South Korea has hit hard. In addition to the 25% tariff, South Korea (the 10th largest economy in the world) is prone to suffering huge tariffs on some of its largest exports, such as steel and automobiles.

Lee also faces a more confident North Korea, whose leader Kim Jong-un has been advancing his ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program. Like Trump, Lee favors more engagement with the North, pledging last week to resume a military hotline between the two rivals, who are still technically in the war.

Although Trump said he wanted to resume face-to-face diplomacy with Kim Jong Il, North Korea seems to be much less interested in negotiations than when it met in 2018 and 2019. Kim Jong Il has now gained vital economic and military support through a security partnership with Russia, and he said that last year, North Korea no longer reconciled with the southern part of the country.

Trump is reportedly considering withdrawing thousands of U.S. troops from the South, an idea he also raised during his first term, which is an increase in tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Although Seoul said there was no such discussion, Pentagon officials said the rules for reducing troops had not been ruled out.

Neither South Korea nor USFK were mentioned in a speech to Singapore last weekend, adding to concerns about the country's position in Washington.

"After all, the United States can unilaterally decide and take action to reduce USFK troops. This is their army," Young Sik said.

But “they need to consider and adapt to the situations facing and face with their security partners.”

"If they have something good for the United States and what's good for the world," Bon said, "I'm not sure how long this approach will work."

Jennifer Jett reported on Hong Kong, and Stella Kim reported on Los Angeles.