South Korean presidential election roiled by coffee beans, Chanel bags and room salon

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s presidential race has devolved into personal attacks and petty disputes, drowning out meaningful policy debate after former conservative leader Yoon Suk Yeol’s ouster over his martial law fiasco.

The bitter mudslinging between liberal frontrunner Lee Jae-myung and conservative opponent Kim Moon Soo escalated during Tuesday night’s final presidential debate, with Lee branding Kim “Yoon Suk Yeol’s avatar” and Kim denouncing Lee as a “harbinger of monster politics and dictatorship."

Here is a look at the words and controversies that have roiled the presidential contest as two days of early voting begins Thursday ahead of the June 3 election:

Consistently trailing Lee in opinion polls, Kim has focused on dredging up his legal troubles and casting the outspoken Democratic Party candidate as a dangerous, hardline populist whose economic promises are detached from reality.

For days, Kim’s camp has seized on what appeared to be a casual comment by Lee about the profitability of running coffee shops during a May 16 campaign rally in Gunsan city.

Lee was touting his past policy as Gyeonggi Province governor in 2019, when he relocated unlicensed food vendors from the province's popular mountain streams to clean up and revitalize tourist areas.

Lee said he offered to help vendors transition to legitimate businesses and suggested it would be far more profitable to sell coffee than their labor-intensive chicken porridge. Lee said he noted that a cup of coffee could sell for 8,000 to 10,000 won ($5.8 to $7.3), while the raw cost of beans was just 120 won (9 cents).

The remarks quickly struck a nerve in a country where the rapid spread of small coffee shops has come to symbolize the struggles of the self-employed in a decaying job market.

Kim's People Power Party accused Lee of “driving a nail into the hearts of small business owners” by portraying coffee shops as profiteering and said he misunderstood the factors behind retail pricing.

Lee accused the conservatives of distorting his remarks, saying he was simply explaining how he had helped vendors operate in a better environment.

Kim's avoidance of direct criticism of Yoon over his martial law decree has been a major source of Lee's political offensive against him.

When Yoon appeared May 21 to view a documentary film justifying his martial law decree and raising unfounded claims about how the liberals benefited from election fraud, some PPP members lamented he was practically campaigning for Lee.

Kim, formerly Yoon's labor minister, only said he would do his best as president to eliminate suspicions of alleged election fraud.

Kim also has not offered any notable reaction to various scandals surrounding Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee.

Prosecutors in Seoul are investigating fresh allegations that the former first lady received luxury gifts, including two Chanel bags, from a Unification Church official seeking business favors after Yoon took office in 2022.

She previously faced several other allegations including receiving a Dior bag from a Korean American pastor and involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme.

During the presidential debate, Lee claimed Yoon would return as a “shadow ruler” behind Kim, and Kim skirted Lee's question about whether he would pardon Yoon.

The “room salon” is a long-standing symbol of South Korea’s male-oriented nightlife culture. The expensive, private karaoke bar where hostesses drink and sing with male customers abruptly emerged as a hot election issue.

Lee’s party alleged a judge handling Yoon’s rebellion trial visited one of the bars in affluent southern Seoul last year with two unidentified people. It said his companions paid the bill and they were likely linked to his work as a judge, representing a conflict of interest.

The judge, Jee Kui-youn, has been at the center of bipartisan wrangling since he approved Yoon’s release from prison in March and allowed him to stand his trial without physical detention.

“We should strip him of his judge robe," party spokesperson Noh Jongmyun said. "Isn’t it preposterous for him to serve as chief judge for the rebellion trial where the fate of Korea’s democracy lies?”

Jee denied the allegations, saying that like many ordinary people he enjoys “samgyeopsal,” grilled pork bellies, and “somaek,” shots mixing beer and the traditional Korean liquor soju.

Conservative critics accuse the Democratic Party of trying to tame the judiciary branch as Lee faces five criminal trials over corruption and other allegations.

South Korea does not hold a second round of runoff elections. Subsequently, when there is a clear frontrunner it is common for two remaining rivals to launch a unified campaign in which one withdraws and supports the other in exchange for a high-profile role in the government.

With Lee maintaining a solid lead, this year’s race saw a similar maneuver among conservatives, but the extremely chaotic, undemocratic manner failed and hurt Kim's campaign.

Believing Han Duck-soo, Yoon’s former prime minister, had a better chance of defeating Lee, PPP leaders consisting primarily of Yoon loyalists held late night, emergency meetings to cancel Kim’s nomination and push a candidacy by Han, an independent. The attempt was rejected the next day in a vote by party members.

Kim called the move “an overnight political coup" and later made efforts to align with Lee Joon-seok, the candidate of the smaller conservative party. Lee has flatly rejected the overture.

South Korean People Power Party's presidential candidate Kim Moon Soo exits out to cast his early vote for the June 3 presidential election at a polling station in Incheon, South Korea, Thursday, May 29, 2025. (Ryu Young-seok/Yonhap via AP)

South Korean Democratic Party's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, second from right, and young people cast their early votes for the June 3 presidential election at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 29, 2025. (Yonhap via AP)

FILE - From left: South Korea's presidential candidates, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, Kwon Young-guk of the Democratic Labor Party, Kim Moon Soo of the People Power Party and Lee Jun-seok of the New Reform Party pose for photograph ahead of a 3rd televised presidential debate for the forthcoming June 3 presidential election at MBC studio on May 27, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. (Kim Min-Hee/Kyodo, Pool via AP, File)

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at a cinema to watch the documentary movie in Seoul, South Korea, on May 21, 2025. (Kim Do-hoon/Yonhap via AP)

FILE - South Korea's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party poses for photograph ahead of a 3rd televised presidential debate for the forthcoming June 3 presidential election at MBC studio on May 27, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. (Kim Min-Hee/Kyodo, Pool via AP, File)

FILE - South Korea's presidential candidate Kim Moon Soo of the People Power Party poses for photograph ahead of a 3rd televised presidential debate for the forthcoming June 3 presidential election at MBC studio on May 27, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. (Kim Min-Hee/Kyodo, Pool via AP, File)

FILE - A TV screen shows the People Power Party's presidential candidate Kim Moon Soo, right, and the Democratic Party's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung during a presidential debate for the upcoming June 3 presidential election, at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, on May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)