The leadership vacuum created in December has raised questions about the legitimacy of both the domestic and foreign policies of the South Korean government. With opposing party candidates leading the poll for the 2017 presidential election likely to be advanced, they are calling for reversing controversial Park administration foreign policies like THAAD deployment, the 2015 “comfort women” agreement with Japan, and the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Especially, repealing the agreement with Japan is gaining ground based on increasing anti-Japan sentiment caused by Japanese politicians’ insensitive comments on the agreement. The ideological divide seems more profound than ever, but voices were raised calling for rational and bipartisan approaches to prevent the current political chaos from worsening.

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