14 hours to determine the next 5 years: Korea's presidential election by the numbers
Published: 02 Jun. 2025, 17:07
Updated: 03 Jun. 2025, 08:20
-
- SARAH KIM
- [email protected]
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
![An election official holds up a ballot stamp at a polling station at Cheongpa Library in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on June 2, the eve of Korea's presidential election. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/03/abe69f7e-ea76-4165-99d2-8bcf34682144.jpg)
An election official holds up a ballot stamp at a polling station at Cheongpa Library in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on June 2, the eve of Korea's presidential election. [YONHAP]
On Tuesday, Koreans will cast their ballots for a snap presidential election that comes after months of a leadership vacuum and political turmoil.
With some 44.39 million eligible voters in a country of some 52 million, the June 3 election can be seen as a referendum on ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration.
Thus, the next South Korean president has the weighty task of bridging a deeply polarized nation amid growing economic uncertainty and an increasingly unstable regional security environment, including an emboldened North Korea.
![A helicopter carrying troops lands at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 4, following President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/03/51ceab09-362c-41d0-8308-e92c0e89faf3.jpg)
A helicopter carrying troops lands at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 4, following President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration. [JOONGANG ILBO]
6 hours, 60 days, 6 months
This year’s presidential election comes following Yoon’s dismissal from office over his ill-fated imposition of martial law on the evening of Dec. 3 last year. Yoon claimed the decree was to save the country from “antistate forces,” and in a harrowing night, martial law troops stormed into the 300-seat National Assembly, prompting all 190 lawmakers present to unanimously vote to repeal the decree.
Yoon lifted the martial law declaration just six hours after he imposed it in the wee hours of Dec. 4. This overnight upheaval set in motion the process for his impeachment and ouster.
On Dec. 14, Yoon was impeached by the liberal-controlled National Assembly. The Constitutional Court eventually ruled to uphold his impeachment in a unanimous decision on April 4. Yoon faces separate criminal charges for insurrection.
By law, an election to choose the successor of a president who leaves office before the end of their term must take place within 60 days of their ouster. This prompted the snap election to select Yoon's replacement to be scheduled for June 3.
Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Lee Ju-ho currently serves as the third acting president since Yoon’s impeachment, after stints leading the country by former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.
Bringing the half-year of leadership vacuum to a close, the election of Korea’s new president comes exactly six months after Yoon's imposition of martial law.
![Pedestrians walk past an election banner showing presidential candidates near Sinchon Station in Seodaemun District, central Seoul, on June 2. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/03/07e9dd35-4892-4eff-911a-b7c60bf62eae.jpg)
Pedestrians walk past an election banner showing presidential candidates near Sinchon Station in Seodaemun District, central Seoul, on June 2. [NEWS1]
The five presidential candidates on the ballot are: No. 1, Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party (DP); No. 2, Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party (PPP); No. 4, Lee Jun-seok of the minor Reform Party; No. 5, Kwon Young-guk of the minor Democratic Labor Party; and No. 8, independent Song Jin-ho.
The DP's Lee, a former Gyeonggi governor and lawmaker who stepped down as party chief to run in the election, is the frontrunner according to most polls released ahead of the polling blackout period. The PPP's Kim, a former labor minister with roots in labor rights activism, however, has been closing the gap in more recent days, followed in a distant third by Lee Jun-seok, the Harvard-educated former PPP chief who is the youngest candidate at 40.
The candidates running for the June 3 race had a 22-day election campaign starting May 12.
A sixth candidate, independent Hwang Kyo-ahn, a former prime minister and acting president under the Park Geun-hye government, dropped out of the race last minute on Sunday in support of Kim.
The two Lees, Kim and Kwon held three televised presidential debates last month covering the economy, social affairs, and political and foreign affairs and security, though they spent much of their time engaging in personal attacks.
A six-day blackout period started last Wednesday, preventing the release of new opinion polls regarding the presidential election.
![Voters living in France cast their ballots votes at a polling station at the Korean Embassy in Paris on May 20, as overseas voting for the June 3 presidential election kicked off for a six-day run. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/03/3f88f43e-0854-4389-8f82-cee99f891fc0.jpg)
Voters living in France cast their ballots votes at a polling station at the Korean Embassy in Paris on May 20, as overseas voting for the June 3 presidential election kicked off for a six-day run. [NEWS1]
A total of 205,268 Korean nationals abroad participated in overseas voting held between May 20 and 25 at 223 polling stations in 118 countries around the world.
The turnout abroad stood at 79.5 percent of 258,254 registered overseas and absentee voters, a record high. This falls short of the 1.9 million overseas Koreans estimated to be eligible to register for the presidential election.
![Voters wait in line to cast their ballots for the 21st presidential election during the two-day early voting period on May 30 in southern Seoul. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/03/f20e112f-a8df-4395-b517-c81fa3d1db8b.jpg)
Voters wait in line to cast their ballots for the 21st presidential election during the two-day early voting period on May 30 in southern Seoul. [NEWS1]
The early-voting turnout last week was 34.74 percent, or some 15.42 million voters, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).
Early voting took place over a two-day period on Thursday and Friday at 3,568 polling stations.
This marked the second-highest turnout since nationwide early voting was introduced in 2014. However, turnout was down 2.19 percentage points from the record 36.93 percent for the early voters in the 2022 presidential election.
![An election official monitors CCTV screens showing the early voting ballot boxes stored at the election situation room of the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi on June 2. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/03/d354bf6b-46b3-4fa8-9f78-67549e19206f.jpg)
An election official monitors CCTV screens showing the early voting ballot boxes stored at the election situation room of the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi on June 2. [NEWS1]
There are 44,391,871 eligible voters in the country. This is 194,179 more eligible voters than the presidential election in 2022.
Around 22,414,382, or 50.5 percent of eligible voters are women, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and 21,977,489 are men. However, there are no women candidates, and gender issues were not heavily featured in the major candidates’ pledges.
The largest age group is those in their 50s at 8,683,369, or 19.6 percent. This is followed by those in their 60s at 17.7 percent, 40s at 17.2 percent, 70s and older at 15.4 percent, 30s at 14.9 percent, and 20s at 13.1 percent. Those aged 18 and 19 account for 2 percent, or 903,250 voters.
By region, Gyeonggi has 11,711,253 voters, or 26.4 percent, followed by Seoul with 8,284,591, or 18.7 percent, and Busan with 2,864,071 at 6.5 percent. Sejong City has the smallest number of eligible voters at 0.7 percent.
Despite over 15 million voters having cast their ballots early or overseas, there are still 28,968,264 eligible voters who can cast their ballots on Tuesday. The outcome of the election will be determined by these voters.
6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For those who missed early voting, the last shot to cast their ballots is between 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, which falls on Tuesday, at 14,295 poll stations nationwide. Unlike early voting, voters must cast their ballots at their designated polling station. Election Day is a public holiday, and this snap presidential election runs two hours later than usual.
To cast a ballot, a voter must bring a photo ID issued by a government or public office, such as a resident registration card, passport or driver's license. A mobile ID is also acceptable.
The three terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS will conduct a joint exit poll, which they will simultaneously release right after polling closes, offering a first glimpse into the projected results.
Ballot counting will begin immediately after polls close.
![Election officials observe a mock test of the ballot counting process at a counting station set up at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on June 2, on the eve of Election Day. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/03/7c41c92c-8b7e-480d-875d-da47effe7818.jpg)
Election officials observe a mock test of the ballot counting process at a counting station set up at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on June 2, on the eve of Election Day. [YONHAP]
After polling ends, sealed ballot boxes will be transferred to a total of 254 counting stations set up nationwide.
The ballot counting will begin around 8:30 p.m. Some 70,000 tallying personnel will be dispatched to these counting stations, according to the NEC. A total of 130,000 voting management staffers will be working on this day to oversee the process.
In the 2022 presidential race, PPP’s candidate Yoon beat DP’s Lee Jae-myung by a razor-thin margin of 0.73 percent, the closest in history.
The winner could be clear as early as around midnight, when the counting is expected to be 70 to 80 percent complete. The candidate who receives the most votes will be deemed the winner.
5 years
The upcoming election is the second to take place before the end of a president’s five-year term since Korea became a democracy in 1987.
The last early presidential election took place in May 2017, after the Constitutional Court dismissed former President Park Geun-hye from office for corruption and abuse of power.
Yoon had been a little over halfway into his term, which, if completed, would have lasted to May 2027. The next presidential election was originally scheduled to take place in March 2027.
Candidates, including the DP’s Lee and the PPP’s Kim, have proposed constitutional revisions to change the single, five-year presidential term introduced in the last revision of the Constitution in 1987. Both these candidates favor a four-year term in office, with two consecutive terms for the president in the future.
The new president will be inaugurated on Wednesday without a traditional two-month transition period and will be set to serve five years, ending in June 2030.
BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)