U.S. poll monitors go to South Korea for presidential election, amid fraud and China meddling fears

As South Korea voters cast final ballots Tuesday, their country – already in political turmoil – is again dealing with election interference, say several American analysts who follow events there closely, including one who will be in the country as an election observer.

South Korea, a key U.S. ally, has been in deep political turmoil since December 2024, when President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a short-lived martial law, leading to his impeachment by the country's National Assembly, which was followed by a series of acting presidents and a snap election in the Democratic republic. 

Robert Charles, a Republican candidate for Maine governor, said China, the United States' biggest economic rival, appears to be trying to capitalize on the upheaval and sow further discontent – leaving little doubt the communist-run country will continue as such during this week's election. 

“China is ... in a hegemonic way, trying to influence, I think, everything in the region. And I think what we should be looking for is whether South Korea can stand on their own two feet," he told Just the News last week.

Such speculation intensified after President Trump in April announced big tariffs, including a 145% one on China-produced goods, before easing them temporarily last month – with China and the U.S. being South Korea’s two largest trading partners.

“There are real concerns about election meddling there, probably by China,” Fred Fleitz, vice-chairman for the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security, told Just the News in a separate interview.

Fleitz, who spent 19 years in the CIA, also said friends of his are already in South Korea as poll monitors trying to make sure the election is "free and fair."

"But I'm real concerned about who will win that election and whether this is going to be a government that is going to be too soft on China and South Korea," he continued.

Grant Newsham, who will be part of the Center for Security Policy election observation team going to Seoul, also said there are already signs that people in South Korea are trying to move the country away from alliances with the U.S. in favor of ones with China and neighboring "rogue nation" North Korea – whose actions and policies, including its nuclear weapons program and human rights record, poses a threat to global stability. 

“We’re seeing an effort by hardcore radicals in South Korea who are pro-North Korea, pro-China, anti-America to take control of every lever of power in the country,” Newsham, also a retired Marine colonel, told Just the News, in a separate interview. 

“They’ve already had considerable success with the judiciary, with the police, parts of the intelligence services, the media, and of course, in academia.”

He also said he observed "immense fraud" in the 2020 South Korea elections and that "despite the best efforts of Korean citizens to raise these issues, bring them to the courts, try to get some official support for it. They've been stonewalled and even persecuted for what they're doing."

There are already record levels of early voting now in South Korea, where there are seven official candidates.

Opinion polls show that center-left figure Lee Jae-myung, 61, a reform minded candidate who narrowly lost the 2022 presidential race, is most likely to win. Lee has been the target of investigations looking into corruption and abuse of power, though he has not been convicted. Polls show his support at plus-40%.

If Lee falters, conservative People Power Party head Kim Moon-soo is polling in the mid-30s. The 74-year-old Kim, a former labor activist, has transformed in recent years into a right-wing maverick. He is the oldest candidate in the race but is in top physical condition and often boasts about his workouts in public.

New Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok is barely cracking double digits in third place, and the other four candidates are seeing lower numbers. Lee is hurt by the New Reform Party’s connection to Yoon Suk Yeol, who won in 2022, but whose impeachment in December sparked the recent political chaos.

Under South Korean law, a candidate must only garner a simple majority to claim victory.\