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Police form a barricade around the grounds of the Constitutional Court on April 1, 2025, after it announced it would be delivering its decision on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol later this week. (Yonhap)

The Constitutional Court’s announcement that it will rule on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday has sparked interest in what the timeline for a snap presidential election might look like if the court removes Yoon from office. Because Korea’s Constitution stipulates that a successor must be elected within 60 days of the presidency becoming vacant, many see June 3 as the likely date for an election.

June 3, a Tuesday, is being floated as a strong contender for the date of a special election because it falls precisely 60 days after April 4. As snap elections condense the normal election cycle into a tight timeframe, it’s thought that the date of a possible election will be pushed off as long as the law permits to allow parties to select their nominees through primary races and still leave some time for campaigning. 

After Park Geun-hye was impeached on March 30, 2017, the special election to elect her successor was held on May 9, a Tuesday, exactly 60 days after the verdict. 

According to Articles 34 and 35 of the Public Official Election Act, presidential elections, general elections, local elections, and by-elections for National Assembly lawmakers, local government heads, and provincial lawmakers are to be held on Wednesdays. However, an exception is made for elections to fill a presidential vacancy, meaning there would be no problem with a Tuesday election. 

If a special election is held, Prime Minister and acting President Han Duck-soo would have to announce the date of the election at least 50 days in advance. Article 35 of the Public Official Election Act states that while an election to fill a vacant presidency must be held within 60 days of “the time when the cause for holding the election becomes definite” — a court ruling in this case — “but the election day shall be publicly announced by the President or acting President by not later than 50 days before the election day.”

After the acting president announces the date, the Cabinet convenes to conduct procedures for officially declaring that day a national holiday. 

If the election is scheduled for June 3, the deadline for registering presidential candidates will be from May 10 to 11. The official campaign cycle would be from May 12 to June 2, just 22 days. Early voting would likely take place from May 29 to 30. 

Considering these facts, each party is likely to go into presidential election mode soon. If they are to register their candidates on May 10 or 11, parties will need to wrap up their internal primaries within the next month. 

By Jang Na-rye, staff reporter

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