2012 is the final year of the five-year term of office of Lee Myung-bak's pragmatic administration.Along with the opening of the 19th National Assembly,South Korea inaugurated its first female President in its constitutional history.Hot issues pop up one after another in South Korea politics,which involve national development,government reform,local autonomy and civil society.This paper will mainly discuss the following issues:the 19th National Assembly elections,the Court knocked down online real-name rule,the dispute over the policy of moving the Capital to Sejong City,and national defense reform.After briefly reviewing South Korea politics in 2012,this paper will look forward to the following aspects:how will the new government interact with the ruling and opposition parties,the implementation of new policies,the effective promotion of political democratization and economic democratization,and so on. <<