S. Korea to hold presidential elections on June 3 to choose Yoon’s successor

South Korea will hold a presidential election on June 3 to choose a successor to former President Yoon Suk Yeol who was removed from office last week over his short-lived martial law declaration, Prime Minister and Acting President Han Duck Soo said Tuesday.

Han announced the election date following Cabinet approval. An election must be held within 60 days from the date when a president is ousted, according to the Constitution.

The official campaigning is likely to begin on May 12, with candidates required to register by the previous day.

The acting president said he will urge all relevant government agencies to work closely with the election commission to ensure “this election can be fairer, more transparent, and more trustworthy than ever before.”

June 3 will be a national holiday for the election, he also said.

Last Friday, the country’s Constitutional Court removed Yoon from office, upholding a parliamentary motion to impeach him over his Dec. 3 martial law declaration, with all its justices deeming his act unconstitutional and a denial of democracy.

South Korea’s two biggest parties, the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party that controls parliament, are in the process of selecting their presidential candidates.

In a Gallup Korea survey released last Friday, the DP’s leader Lee Jae Myung, who lost to Yoon by a narrow margin in the 2022 election, was the top choice for president with 34 percent support, followed by Employment and Labor Minister Kim Moon Soo at 9 percent.

Lee is expected to make his presidential bid next week, according to local media reports.

Kim, who is not a lawmaker, said at a press conference Tuesday that he will resign from his ministerial post to run in the election, suggesting he will join the PPP when asked by a reporter for which party he will run.