South Korea has set June 3 as the tentative date for the next presidential election, Yonhap News reported yesterday, citing an unidentified government official.
The election was triggered after the Constitutional Court on Friday last week unanimously decided to remove Yoon Suk-yeol as president for violating the constitution with his martial law decree on Dec. 3 last year.
South Korea must hold an election within 60 days after an incumbent president is ousted.
Photo: Bloomberg
Acting South Korean President Han Duck-soo plans to announce the schedule during a Cabinet meeting slated for today, Yonhap said.
If the schedule is confirmed, candidates would be required to register by May 11 and the official campaign period would begin on May 12, the report said.
The law also requires that any public servant aspiring to run for president must resign from their current job at least 30 days before the election. That would make May 4 the deadline for doing so in this case.
There was no immediate response from the prime minister’s office when reached by Bloomberg News.
The eight-judge court ruled that Yoon undermined the military’s political neutrality by sending troops to parliament to confront ordinary citizens.
Yoon’s shock decision shook financial markets and left the nation with a leadership vacuum just as US President Donald Trump was preparing to launch an aggressive tariff campaign. The Trump administration last week slapped 25 percent duties on South Korean exports, which is among the highest imposed on US’ top security allies.
In addition to dealing with the fallout from Trump’s duties, South Korea’s new leader would also have to find a way to unify a deeply divided nation and move forward after four months of chaos and unrest sparked by the martial law decree.
Opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung is leading in the polls to replace Yoon, with support of 34 percent of respondents in a Gallup poll released Friday last week.
South Korean Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo is the other main contender, according to the poll.
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