After losing by a razor-thin margin in 2022, the Democratic Party candidate has returned to the ballot, and is now poised to replace the political rival he was instrumental in unseating.
Opponents decry Lee, 60, for his populist style.
But his rags-to-riches personal story sets him apart from many of South Korea’s political elite.
After dropping out of school to work at a factory to support his family, he suffered a disabling elbow injury in an industrial accident.
He earned a scholarship to study law and passed the bar to become an attorney.
Lee has used this origin story to cultivate a loyal support base and frame himself as understanding the struggles of the underprivileged.
“You can worry about people outside shivering in the cold while you sit in your warm living room,” Lee told AFP in a 2022 interview.
“But you can never really understand their pain.”
Polls suggest the margin between Lee and his closest challenger, conservative Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party, narrowed in recent days, with some showing a single-digit margin.
But Lee has consistently maintained his lead since the race was triggered by the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk Yeol over his brief declaration of martial law in December.
Live-streaming a crisis
South Korea has experienced a leadership vacuum since lawmakers suspended Yoon for deploying armed troops to parliament in his failed attempt to suspend civilian rule.
During the tense minutes following that move, Lee live-streamed his frantic scramble over the perimeter fence as he and other lawmakers rushed to vote down the martial law decree.