Voters in South Korea will head to the polls next Wednesday to elect their new head of state, as the constitution limits the incumbent President Moon Jae-in to a single five-year term. Despite the election being overshadowed by the escalating conflict in Ukraine and the associated fallout, this presidential race looks set to be one of the closest contests. The two front-runners, Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol, appear to be neck-and-neck in opinion polls, though both have been embroiled in corruption scandals.

Join our Lead Asia-Pacific Analyst, Dr Guo Yu and fellow APAC Analyst and Korean politics specialist Hans Horan, as we discuss the upcoming vote and its significance in shaping South Korea's socio-economic policy as well as the security situation in the Korean Peninsula for the next five years.