Seoul: South Korea will hold a snap presidential election June 3 to succeed recently ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, the country’s acting leader Han Duck-soo announced Tuesday.
The announcement came four days after the Constitutional Court removed President Yoon Suk Yeol from office over his ill-fated imposition of martial law in December. By law, South Korea must elect a new president within 60 days of Yoon’s ouster. The next president will serve a full 5-year term.
Deep political polarisation will likely shape the election into a two-way showdown between the two major political parties: Yoon’s conservative People Power Party and its chief liberal rival, the Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the National Assembly.
It will be an uphill battle for the People Power Party as it struggles to restore public confidence and heal severe internal divisions left by Yoon’s martial law stunt.
The focus of attention is on whether conservatives can regroup and field a strong candidate to compete against likely Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, who observers say is the clear front-runner.
South Korea’s political parties are expected to launch primaries to select their presidential candidates in the coming weeks.
The Democratic Party candidate is expected to be Lee, a powerful party leader who faces no major challengers inside the party. Lee narrowly lost the 2022 election to Yoon.