Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 19 December 2012. They were the sixth presidential elections since democratisation and the establishment of the Sixth Republic, and were held under a first-past-the-post system, in which there was a single round of voting and the candidate receiving the highest number of votes was elected.
Under the South Korean constitution, a president is restricted to a single five-year term in office. The term of the then incumbent president Lee Myung-bak ended on 24 February 2013. According to The Korea Times, 30.7 million people voted, with turnout at 75.8%.
Park Geun-hye of the Saenuri party was elected the first female South Korean president with 51.6% of the vote opposed to 48.0% for her opponent Moon Jae-in. Park's share of the vote was the highest won by any candidate since the beginning of free and fair direct elections in 1987 and the first such election in which any candidate won a majority. Moreover, as of the 2025 election, this is the latest South Korean presidential election in which the winning candidate won an absolute majority of the vote.
In 2017, following Park's impeachment and removal from office, Moon would go on to succeed her as president following a successful bid for the presidency in the 2017 presidential election.
Background
Lee Myung-bak was elected President of South Korea in 2007 as the nominee of the conservative Grand National Party after a closely contested primary in which he narrowly defeated Park Geun-hye, and assumed office in February 2008. His victory brought to a close ten years of liberal administration under Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. The Lee Myung-bak government pursued the reduction of government bureaucracy and a laissez-faire economic policy, and came under criticism from the left for political scandals and controversial policies such as the Jeju-do Naval Base and its support of the South Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement, although both were initiated under the previous administration. Despite the fact that he was elected in a landslide victory and received initial approval ratings of 70%, Lee's ratings had declined to below 30% by 2012.
At the end of 2011, Park Geun-hye assumed control of the Grand National Party, which was subsequently renamed the Saenuri or New Frontier Party in February 2012. She distanced herself from Lee and led the party towards the center. In legislative elections in April 2012, Park guided the party to an upset victory, returning its majority in the National Assembly. This contributed to an increase in her poll ratings and consolidated her position as frontrunner for the Saenuri nomination.
Opposition to Saenuri was divided primarily between the Democratic United Party and independent supporters of Ahn Cheol-soo, who emerged as a leading potential candidate despite his ostensible silence on the race. In the DUP, focus initially lay on Sohn Hak-kyu as a potential nominee, but by late 2011 Moon Jae-in, a confidant of former president Roh, had overtaken Sohn in polls. Although the DUP invited Ahn to join the party, only 2.3% of respondents to a poll on 21 April thought that Ahn was best suited to be DUP nominee. The DUP itself has been troubled by the split between pro-Roh members such as Moon Jae-in and the "Honam wing" of former president Kim Dae-jung, represented by Chung Dong-young.
Registered candidates Ballot numbers for party candidates were given according to the candidate's party seat distribution in the National Assembly. Ballot numbers for independent candidates were determined through a random lottery by the National Election Commission. 123 (Resigned)4567Park Geun-hyeMoon Jae-inLee Jung-heePark Jong-sunKim So-yeonKang Ji-wonKim Soon-ja Saenuri Democratic United Unified Progressive Independent Independent Independent Independent
Nominations Democratic United Party Nominee Democratic Party candidate Member of the National Assembly
Campaign The 2012 Democratic United Party presidential primary saw an open primary system implemented for the first time. This new open primary introduced "mobile voting"; it was hailed as a "revolution in voting" because people could participate in voting more conveniently. However, controversies persisted during the primary elections, as questions of the legitimacy and trustworthiness of the voting results were raised. The official result was announced on 16 September 2012, at 15:32 KST, naming Moon Jae-in the presidential candidate from the Democratic United Party. After winning the nomination, Moon stated that he would like to join forces with Ahn Cheol-soo.
Candidates Moon Jae-in, Member of National Assembly Sohn Hak-kyu, former Governor of Gyeonggi Kim Doo-kwan, former Governor of South Gyeongsang Chung Sye-kyun, Member of National Assembly from Seoul Park Joon-young, Governor of South Jeolla Cho Kyoung-tae, Member of National Assembly from Busan Kim Jung-kil, former Minister of the Interior Kim Young-hwan, Member of National Assembly from Gyeonggi
Jo, Kim J and Kim Y were disqualified by the party through a cutoff poll, where only top five candidates were allowed to pass to primaries. Park withdrew before the primaries began.
Results P= Pre-registered electors who voted at Polling booths; M: Pre-registered electors who voted through Mobile devices; D= Party Delegates who voted at the polling booths
Moon Jae-in won the nomination on the first ballot, so no run-off contest was needed. + Absolute majority needed to winDatesRacesMoonSohnKimChungTotalVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%25 Aug.JejuP30149.515525.513422.0183.0608100M11,70160.53,69320.52,73914.29424.919,35100D2114.15234.97147.753.414910026 Aug.UlsanP17658.54214.05016.63311.0301100M4,71951.91,05811.62,97432.73473.89,098100D5651.41715.62926.676.410910028 Aug.GangwonP19250.012131.55213.5194.9384100M2,59846.92,07537.457410.42985.45,545100D4718.213251.25220.22710.525810030 Aug.N. ChungcheongP20939.523243.98015.181.5529100M7,79646.46,75540.21,78010.64552.716,786100D12739.412137.67122.030.93221001 Sep.N. JeollaP78217.11,25927.568414.91,85540.54,580100M15,48940.38,75722.84,70712.39,44324.638,396100D7913.717730.76310.925844.75771002 Sep.IncheonP19142.915334.47316.4286.3445100M5,60751.22,84125.91,82316.66876.310,958100D13030.214934.68018.67216.74311004 Sep.S. GyeongsangP35425.11369.690864.3141.01,412100M11,21646.52,2569.410,26542.63741.624,111100D11329.45213.520854.0123.13851006 Sep.Gwangju S. JeollaP1,38527.62,18243.41,25725.02004.05,024100M32,34550.520,05331.39,54614.92,1053.364,049100D17919.937541.721523.913014.58991008 Sep.BusanP71464.1908.129026.0201.81,114100M17,16266.42,57710.05,54221.45622.225,843100D25962.65914.37518.1215.14141009 Sep.Daejeon Sejong
S. ChungcheongP46857.121526.39511.6415.0819100M14,37363.34,02617.72,48110.91,8388.122,718100D26348.113925.46411.78114.854710012 Sep.Daegu N. GyeongsangP36557.49014.216926.6121.9636100M9,74557.53,02817.93,31819.68465.016,937100D16534.79620.213428.28016.847510015 Sep.GyeonggiP1,21955.767730.91878.51074.92,190100M47,84463.517,27022.96,6618.83,5274.775,302100D52237.053037.51309.223016.31,41210016 Sep.SeoulP1,43456.368827.02299.01957.72,546100M156,12260.853,19720.729,84511.617,7566.9256,920100D71542.54124.418711.137122.01,683100Total347,18356.5136,20522.287,84214.3430277.0614,257100
Saenuri Party Nominee Saenuri Party candidate Leader of theSaenuri Party
Campaign The first member of the Saenuri Party to officially announce their candidacy was Kim Moon-soo on 22 April. Kim, a former labor activist, stated in his announcement that he would focus on combating regional and socioeconomic divides, emphasized his commitment to a policy of multiculturalism, and argued for a revision in Saenuri's primary system. He stated further that Park Geun-hye's leadership of the party represented only an "ambiguously prevailing trend", and could not be relied upon to reach victory in the elections. Although Kim said that he was "convinced" he could "attract more support than [Park]", he was not widely expected to garner a high level of support. His early announcement was regarded as an attempt to preemptively form an anti-Park faction in the party.Former activist targets non-Park conservatives, The Korea Herald. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
Chung Mong-joon, a billionaire and longstanding member of the National Assembly, followed on 29 April. In his announcement, Chung emphasized the need to confront regionalism and factional politics, and stated that he would "write a new history of the Republic of Korea by facilitating [his] experience of managing a business, engaging in diplomacy and creating unity in the nation". He stressed that his task was to "bring together the divided hearts of the people" and that he was concerned that the "country could collapse in its current situation". Like Kim Moon-soo, Chung is expected to be at a disadvantage to Park. Chung previously declared his candidacy in the 2002 presidential elections but later dropped out to endorse Roh Moo-hyun.
The former mayor of Incheon, Ahn Sang-soo, declared his candidacy on 6 May, emphasizing his economic credentials and stating that he would relieve the burden of debt. Former presidential Chief of Staff Yim Tae-hee followed on 8 May, issuing a call for Park Geun-hye to act as a "kingmaker" that was interpreted as a request for her to step aside. Yim, a moderate, proposed to join hands with independent Ahn Cheol-soo and DUP frontrunner Moon Jae-in in a bid to "demolish outdated politics". On 10 May, five-term lawmaker and former Minister for Government Legislation and Special Affairs Lee Jae-oh announced his bid, promising to reform the constitution and cut his term as president to three years.
The campaign for the Saenuri primaries has been characterized by a dispute between Park Geun-hye, as frontrunner and party leader, and her opponents in the party. She was cited in 2009 as the most influential politician in South Korea,2009 survey by Herald Business and has outranked other candidates in many polls throughout 2012,Poll: Park Geun-hye still leading race to presidency. The Hankyoreh, 2 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012. though as of early May 2012 she is yet to officially declare her candidacy. Park's opponents have called for Saenuri to adopt an open primary system rather than the present system based on an electoral college and opinion poll results. At the end of April the Democratic United Party suggested a joint discussion on the issue of fully open primaries. Park has been criticized for her taciturn and authoritarian style in leading the party, and Kim Moon-soo described her as overly "secretive". Chung Mong-joon stated that under Park's leadership, "democracy in the party [had] gone missing". Park strengthened her position when her ally Lee Hahn-koo was elected Saenuri's floor leader on 9 May.