South Korea has set a date to hold snap elections to choose ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol’s successor.
According to Al Jazeera, the acting president of the country, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, announced that the presidential elections in South Africa will take place on June 3, 2025.
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Duck-soo said that the government had decided on the date considering the “need to ensure smooth election operations and allow sufficient time for political parties to prepare”, adding that the government made a decision after discussing the issue with the National Election Commission and “other related agencies.”
The announcement came four days after the Constitutional Court removed Yoon, who was elected in 2022, from office over a controversial declaration of martial law in December 2024. The court also declared his act as unconstitutional.
Yoon, on December 3, 2024, threw the young democracy of South Korea into turmoil after declaring martial law, claiming that the action was necessary to counter political opposition’s obstructionism and “antistate” forces.
As per the country law, the new president must be elected within 60 days to serve a full five-year term in the office.
The upcoming presidential elections will most likely be a showdown between two major political parties: Yoon’s conservative People Power Party and its chief liberal rival, the Democratic Party.
Related: South Korea court removes president months after martial law declaration
