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2025 South Korean presidential election

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2025 South Korean presidential election
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Opinion polls
 
Nominee Lee Jae-myung Kim Moon-soo Han Duck-soo
Party Democratic People Power Independent
Incumbent President

Lee Ju-ho (acting)
Independent



This article is part of a series on
Politics of South Korea
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An early presidential election will be held in South Korea on 3 June 2025.[1] Originally scheduled for 3 March 2027, the election was pushed forward following the impeachment and removal of Yoon Suk Yeol.[2][3] The date of 3 June is due to the requirement by the constitution of South Korea for an election to be held within 60 days of a permanent presidential vacancy, which has been the case since the 4 April decision of the Constitutional Court of Korea to uphold the impeachment and remove Yoon from office. Later, it was confirmed by the government that the date of the election would be set on 3 June regardless.[4][5]

Since democratization and the establishment of the Sixth Republic, this will be the ninth presidential election, the second election after a presidential impeachment, and the first held in a different year than originally scheduled.[6]

Background

[edit]
Main article: Impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol

Following the declaration of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol on 3 December 2024, the National Assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December 2024, with 204 of 300 lawmakers in support.[2][7] On 4 April 2025, the Constitutional Court of Korea upheld the impeachment, removing Yoon from office and vacating the presidency. Under the constitution, a presidential election must be held within 60 days to determine Yoon's permanent successor as the country’s 14th president.[8][9][10] On 8 April, acting president Han Duck-soo announced that the election would be held on 3 June 2025.[11][12]

Electoral system

[edit]
Main article: Presidential elections in South Korea

The president of South Korea is elected via a single-round plurality voting system, for a term of five years. Incumbent and former presidents are ineligible to seek re-election.[6] Unlike regularly scheduled presidential elections, the winner of this election will take office immediately after the results are confirmed by the National Election Commission, without a two-month transition period as usual.[13]

Nominations

[edit]

The National Election Commission (NEC) opened preliminary candidate registrations on 4 April 2025, following the confirmation of Yoon's impeachment and removal. Incumbent heads of municipal governments who intend to run for president must resign from their positions by 4 May.[14]

Democratic Party

[edit]

On 12 April 2025, the Democratic Party announced that it would select its official nominee for president through an even split between votes by dues-paying members and a public poll that would survey one million people through two polling companies, with a final decision to be released on 27 April following a full party vote on 14 April and an online vote by its central committee on 15 April. The party primaries will be the first time that people aged 16 to 18 years old will participate since a 2022 revision in the Political Parties Act that lowered the minimum age for party membership from 18 to 16.[15][16] On 18 April, the Democratic Party held its first televised debate.[17] On 23 April, the party held its second televised debate. During the debate, the three candidates discussed proposed constitutional amendments to either shorten presidential terms or allow presidents to serve for more than one term, as well as the time-scale for such proposals.[18] On 27 April, the party officially announced Lee Jae-myung as its presidential candidate after a majority primary victory.[19]

Lee Jae-myung

[edit]

On 9 April, Lee Jae-myung announced his resignation from leadership of the Democratic Party.[21] On 10 April, Lee announced his candidacy for the presidency, his campaign promises being to decrease economic inequality and stimulate economic growth through investments, while also hoping to reinforce diplomacy between South Korea, the United States and Japan.[20]

Democratic nominee

[edit]
Democratic Party Ticket
Lee Jae-myung
for President
Leader of the Democratic Party
(2022–2025)

Withdrawn candidates

[edit]
Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries
Kim Dong-yeon Kim Kyoung-soo Kim Doo-kwan
36th Governor of Gyeonggi Province (since 2022) Governor of South Gyeongsang Province (2018–2021) Member of the National Assembly (2016–2024)
Withdrew: April 19
4,883 votes 		Withdrew: April 19
2,790 votes[note 1] 		Withdrew: April 18
Exits primary race
[23][24] [25][24] [26][27]
The 21st Democratic Party Presidential Primary Election on April 27, 2025[28]
Candidate Results Number of votes Vote rate
Lee Jae-myung Nominated 623,695 89.77%
Kim Dong-yeon Eliminated 41,307 6.87%
Kim Kyoung-soo Eliminated 25,512 3.36%

People Power Party

[edit]
Main article: 2025 People Power Party presidential primary

The People Power Party held a primary and announced its official candidate for president at its party convention scheduled for 3 May 2025.[29] Following three rounds of voting, former Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo was announced as the PPP’s candidate.[30]

People Power nominee

[edit]
People Power Party Ticket
Kim Moon-soo
for President
Minister of Employment and Labor
(2024–2025)
[31][30]

Withdrawn candidates

[edit]
Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries
Han Dong-hoon Ahn Cheol-soo Hong Joon-pyo
Minister of Justice (2022–2023) Member of the National Assembly (since 2022) Mayor of Daegu (2022–2025)
Withdrew: May 3
Eliminated in the final round of primary[30] 		Withdrew: April 29
Eliminated in the second round of primary[32]
[33] [34][35] [36]
Na Kyung-won Yoo Jeong-bok Lee Cheol-woo
Member of the National Assembly (since 2024) Mayor of Incheon (since 2022) Governor of North Gyeongsang Province (since 2018)
Withdrew: April 22
Eliminated in the first round of primary
[37][38] [16] [16]
Yang Hyang-ja Yoo Seong-min Oh Se-hoon
Member of the National Assembly (2020–2024) Member of the National Assembly (2005–2020) Mayor of Seoul (since 2021)
Withdrew: April 22
Eliminated in the first round of primary 		Withdrew: April 13
Exits presidential race 		Withdrew: April 12
Exits presidential race (endorsed Ahn Cheol-soo[39])
[40] [41][42] [43]
People Power 21st Presidential Primary Election on May 3, 2025[44]
Candidate Results Number of votes for party members Poll Sum
Kim Moon-soo Nominated 246,519 (61.25%) 208,525 (51.81%) 455,044 (56.53%)
Han Dong-hoon Eliminated 155,961 (38.75%) 193,955 (48.19%) 349,916 (43.47%)

New Future Democratic Party

[edit]

Lee Nak-yon hinted at a campaign for president at the National Convention for Constitutional Revision hosted by the New Future Democratic Party.[45] On 30 April, Lee’s campaign advisor announced Lee’s candidacy registration, effectively making his campaign official.[46]

New Future Democratic Party candidate

New Reform Party

[edit]
New Reform Party Ticket
Lee Jun-seok
for President
Member of the National Assembly
(since 2024)
[48][49]

Rebuilding Korea Party

[edit]

On 27 April 2025, the Rebuilding Korea Party endorsed the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung for the presidency.[50]

Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries
Cho Kuk
Member of the National Assembly (2024)
Ineligible[note 2]
[52]

Progressive Party

[edit]
Progressive Party candidates

Social Transformation Solidarity Conference

[edit]

The Green Party, Justice Party, Labor Party, and several labor unions have agreed to have an open primary and field candidates under the banner of Social Transformation.[55]

Social Transformation Solidarity Conference candidates

Independents

[edit]

On 1 May 2025, Han Duck-soo resigned as acting president and concurrent prime minister of South Korea, citing the need to lay down an "important mission and bear a greater responsibility".[58] He announced his candidacy for president the next day.[59]

Independent candidates

Opinion polls

[edit]
Main article: Opinion polling for the 2025 South Korean presidential election
LOESS curve for the next South Korean presidential election with a 7-day average

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Kim Kyoung-soo was sentenced to prison in July 2021 and was ineligible to run for office until April 2028, but was pardoned and reinstated in August 2024, allowing him to run.[22]
  2. ^ Cho was sentenced to prison in December 2024, making him ineligible to run for office until December 2031[51]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "South Korea sets June 3 as date of election to replace Yoon". Al Jazeera English. 8 April 2025. Archived from the original on 8 April 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b Rashid, Raphael; McCurry, Justin (14 December 2024). "South Korean parliament votes to impeach president". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 14 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  3. ^ Nauman, Qasim (3 April 2025). "South Korea Awaits Court Ruling on Impeached President's Fate". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 April 2025. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
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