2025 Top 10 National News Power shifts, nuclear ambitions, issues abroad reshape nation
Participants cheer at a rally near the Constitutional Court as former President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment is announced in Seoul, April 4. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Korea’s political and social landscape was turned upside down in 2025, as the nation saw a president ousted, his longtime rival swept into power and key institutions pushed to their limits at home and abroad.
Koreans lived through a year of high drama that redefined the balance of power in Seoul and reshaped the country’s role on the global stage. At the same time, crises ranging from a paralyzing state data center fire to mass detention of Korean engineers in the United States exposed the vulnerabilities that accompany Korea’s status as a hyperconnected, export-driven democracy.
Beyond politics, 2025 also laid bare the human cost of transnational crime and technological change. Rescue operations for Koreans trapped in Cambodian scam compounds, fierce debate over abolishing the prosecution’s headquarters and a surge of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven cheating at top universities all forced hard questions about accountability, ethics and the rule of law.
Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, a green light for nuclear-powered submarines and bitter memories of the Georgia incident showed how Korea’s domestic choices are increasingly intertwined with global security and economic competition.
Here are 10 pivotal moments that defined Korea’s political and social landscape in 2025.
President Lee Jae Myung raises his hand during a presidential public appointment ceremony at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Aug. 15. Joint Press Corps
Lee Jae Myung elected president
Lee Jae Myung, the former leader of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, was elected president in a snap vote on June 3, winning 49.42 percent of the ballots cast and defeating his conservative rival, Kim Moon-soo, who secured 41.15 percent. Lee set a new electoral record with 17.29 million votes, buoyed by strong support in Seoul and decisive margins in key swing regions such as the Chungcheong provinces.
His victory came three years after he narrowly lost to Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022 and followed Yoon’s impeachment and removal over his martial law declaration last December and six months of political turmoil and leadership vacuum.
Lee’s election produced a unified government, aligning the presidency with a Democratic Party of Korea (DPK)-controlled National Assembly and concentrating substantial governing power in liberal hands.
He began his five-year term the day after the vote, assuming full presidential authority immediately due to the early election and forgoing the usual 60-day transition. Lee pledged to be a "president for all," vowing to heal polarization, strengthen democracy and prevent any repeat of attempted insurrection.
Ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol attends his first hearing on charges of obstructing official duties and abusing power at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, Seoul, Sept. 26. Yoon became the first sitting president to be arrested and removed from office. Yonhap
Yoon falls from power in historic impeachment case
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office on April 4 after the Constitutional Court upheld the National Assembly’s impeachment in a unanimous 8-0 ruling, for gravely violating the Constitution and denying popular sovereignty and democracy. The decision came 111 days after the Assembly passed its impeachment motion against Yoon on Dec. 14, 2024, accusing him of treason for declaring martial law on Dec. 3.
The ruling emphasized that Yoon’s use of martial law could not be justified by political turmoil and instead amounted to an unconstitutional attempt to suppress dissent and weaken institutional checks and balances.
The verdict triggered both celebrations and anger, laying bare deep partisan divisions while underscoring the judiciary’s resolve to restrain executive outreach. Since the decision, prosecutors have continued wide-ranging criminal investigations into Yoon over potential charges of insurrection and abuse of power.
The case marked the third impeachment of a Korean president and became a major test of the country’s democratic institutions and public resistance to authoritarian leadership.
President Lee Jae Myung, front row fourth from left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, front row third from left, during the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Nov. 1. Yonhap
Gyeongju rewrites Asia-Pacific playbook
The APEC summit, held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, brought leaders from 21 Asia-Pacific economies to Gyeongju. Korea led the adoption of the Gyeongju Declaration, which for the first time in an APEC leaders’ statement explicitly recognized cultural and creative industries as a new growth engine.
For Korea, the most consequential outcomes of the summit included language backing resilient supply chains for semiconductors and batteries, expanded investment in green industries, and deeper cooperation on cultural content.
President Lee’s pragmatic diplomacy, through balancing ties with both the United States and China while focusing on economic gains, helped secure consensus on the declaration and reinforced Korea’s image as a credible bridge-builder.
The event was also a cultural showcase for Gyeongju, with light shows at historic sites, expanded tourism programs and branding that presented the ancient capital of the Silla Dynasty (57 B.C.-A.D. 935) as a "city of peace" and a model for integrating heritage with innovation.
President Lee Jae Myung walks with U.S. President Donald Trump past a replica of the Cheonmachong Tomb gold crown at Gyeongju National Museum, Oct. 29. The replica was presented to Trump as a state visit gift. Yonhap
Seoul to develop nuclear submarines
U.S. President Donald Trump said in October that he had given Korea approval to build its first nuclear-powered submarine, following President Lee’s request for help in securing fuel for such vessels at their summit in Gyeongju.
Korean defense officials said that the envisioned submarine, likely weighing over 5,000 tons, would use uranium enriched below 20 percent and significantly strengthen deterrence against North Korea’s expanding nuclear capabilities.
The Navy chief estimated it would take roughly 10 years after a formal decision for Korea to deploy its first nuclear submarine, while the Ministry of National Defense said the country should eventually field at least four such boats, possibly more.
Throughout November and December, the defense ministry and the presidential National Security Office set up task forces and mapped out negotiations with Washington on reactor fuel, uranium enrichment and fuel reprocessing, seeking to conclude key talks within two years.
Koreans who had been detained in Cambodia until a crackdown on criminal compounds are repatriated through Terminal 2 at Incheon International Airport, Oct. 18. Korea Times photo by Choi Joo-yeon
Koreans rescued from Cambodia crime rings
Korea mounted an emergency operation in October to rescue and repatriate nationals caught up in Cambodia’s industrial-scale online scam rings, following the torture and death of a Korean college student lured there by bogus job offers.
Sixty-four Koreans detained in connection to their complicity or victimization in online scams were flown home on a chartered flight on Oct. 17, in what officials called the country’s largest single repatriation from one foreign nation. Many had voluntarily joined the schemes but later found themselves unable to leave the crime hub, and faced investigations for their roles in phone and romance scams after their return.
Separate police and diplomatic efforts led to the rescue of smaller groups, and as of December a total of 107 nationals suspected of involvement in online scams had been repatriated from Cambodia as part of a pan-government crackdown that began in October.
Officials said roughly 1,000 Koreans were believed to be connected to Cambodian scam operations.
Employees of a Hyundai Motor-LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site, arrested in an immigration raid, leave a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Folkston, Ga., to head to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Sept. 11. Yonhap
Georgia raid shocks Korea as engineers detained
U.S. immigration authorities detained around 300 Korean nationals working for Hyundai Motor Group affiliates and LG Energy Solution during a Sept. 4 raid on a construction site for the two Korean firms’ joint electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the U.S. state of Georgia. Many were engineers and subcontractor technicians who had entered the United States on B-1 business visas or under the ESTA waiver program to install specialized equipment and train local workers as part of the multibillion-dollar project.
Seoul’s foreign ministry expressed regret, summoned U.S. diplomats and warned that the mass detention of workers from an allied country could damage public trust and disrupt strategic investment in the U.S. EV supply chain.
Most of the detained Korean engineers returned home on a chartered flight on Sept. 12, eight days after the raid, under a voluntary departure arrangement that allowed them to avoid formal deportation and potential long-term visa bans.
The incident scarred public opinion in Korea, as images of shackled Korean engineers fueled rising concerns about the U.S.
Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja arrives for a hearing on her arrest warrant at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, Seoul, Sept. 22. Korea Times photo by Park Si-mon
Unification Church’s political ties exposed
Allegations that the Unification Church illegally funneled money into politics shook the establishment this year and are expected to reverberate into next year.
The group’s leader, Han Hak-ja, was detained in September on allegations that she provided luxury goods to former first lady Kim Keon Hee through an intermediary in 2022, in exchange for favorable treatment of the church’s operations.
The controversy widened in December to include members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. A former senior Unification Church official testified that the group sought contact with the party in 2022. The allegations later reached the Cabinet, prompting Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Chun Jae-soo to step down over claims that he had accepted church funds, which he has denied.
Police are now investigating the Unification Church, visiting its Seoul headquarters in Yongsan District and other sites in December to search for and confiscate evidence.
A flag of the prosecution service flutters in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho District, Seoul, Oct. 26. Korea Times photo by Min Kyung-seok
Prosecution’s headquarters dismantled after 78 years
Korea moved to abolish its centralized prosecution office this year as part of President Lee Jae Myung’s flagship pledge to rein in prosecutorial power and end what he called politically motivated investigations.
The DPK used its supermajority in the National Assembly to push through a sweeping government reorganization bill that dismantled the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office 78 years after its establishment, despite fierce resistance from the conservative opposition. After a one-year transition period, two new bodies — carrying out split investigation and indictment functions — will replace the prosecution’s headquarters.
Supporters hailed the overhaul as a milestone for democracy and a long-overdue check on overpowered prosecutors, while critics warned it could concentrate investigative power under the executive branch.
The Cabinet finalized the timetable on Sept. 30, confirming that the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office will be shut down in October next year and its authority fully transferred to the new agencies the following day.
The main gate of Yonsei University stands in western Seoul's Seodaemun District, Dec. 1, 2024 / Newsis
Korea’s top campuses rocked by AI cheating
Korean universities faced a wave of AI-linked cheating scandals this year, with students at elite schools caught using tools such as ChatGPT to generate exam answers and assignments.
Mass cheating cases included incidents where roughly half of a class at Seoul National University were suspected of sharing AI-generated responses and where around 190 students in a Yonsei University course were accused of cheating on an online midterm, with many admitting the use of generative AI despite explicit bans.
In response, universities rushed to tighten assessment rules by moving key exams back to an in-person format, increasing the number of questions, adding strict time limits and deploying AI-based plagiarism detection tools.
The government joined the push by drafting the country’s first AI ethics guidelines for universities, which will spell out permitted uses of AI, define academic misconduct and nudge schools toward more uniform policies.
Firefighters move burned lithium-ion batteries into a fire suppression tank at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon, Sept. 27, in this photo provided by the Prime Minister’s Office. A fire had broke out at the facility earlier that day. Newsis
Data center fire exposes fragility of digital infrastructure
A major fire broke out on Sept. 26 at the government’s main data center in Daejeon after a lithium-ion battery exploded in a fifth-floor server room. The blaze, which took nearly 22 hours to fully extinguish, destroyed hundreds of batteries and disabled hundreds of online systems supporting Korea’s e-government infrastructure, including petition platforms and postal, welfare and customs systems.
Roughly a quarter of affected services were back online 13 days after the fire, about one-third by mid-October and nearly 90 percent by the end of the month, as authorities shifted damaged systems to a backup center in Daegu.
The incident fueled criticism that the country had not learned the lessons of the 2022 Kakao data center fire.
In November, the head of the state data center was removed from his post, and officials vowed a "fundamental redesign" of Korea’s digital government by diversifying data storage and reducing vulnerability to single-point failures.