Rival parties begin preparations for two-month race as gov't tentatively set election date for June 3

And preparations are underway for an early election most likely on the third of June.

Shin Ha-young has the latest.

The date for South Korea's 21st presidential election has been tentatively set for June 3rd.

That's according to Yonhap News Agency, with the date expected to be confirmed at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.

South Korea's presidential race is heating up as rival parties roll up their sleeves to prepare for a two-month race following the Constitutional Court's decision to remove former President Yoon Suk Yeol from office.

The People Power Party formed an election committee on Monday for the upcoming presidential primary.

The party chose Hwang Woo-yea , a former party interim leader and former five-term lawmaker, as its election committee chair.

"Since Hwang recently served as our party's interim emergency committee leader after the general election, he knows the party well. We believe he's the right person to run the primary fairly and objectively."

The party on Sunday decided to continue with its current leadership, with interim leader Kwon Young-se and floor leader Kweon Seong-dong set to stay to carry out the remainder of the presidential election process.

The party does not have a clear frontrunner, with some local media outlets expecting as many as 10 contenders to enter the race.

Among them is Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, who hinted at another run after he finished second to Yoon Suk Yeol in the party's 2022 presidential primary.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is also frequently mentioned as a potential candidate.

The most high-profile name, however, is former party chair Han Dong-hoon, once a close confidant of Yoon, who later distanced himself from the former president and publicly supported impeachment following the martial law declaration.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party chair Lee Jae-myung -widely seen as the likely DP candidate -is expected to step down from his leadership role and make an official declaration to enter the race as early as Wednesday.

Running as party chair could raise concerns about bias in the primary process.

Local media anticipate that his formal announcement will come when the presidential election date is officially confirmed.

Once Lee steps down, the DP plans to hold a meeting to set up an election committee for the primary.

"We only have about 30 days for the primary, so we need to sort out any party rules, make changes if needed, and set up the election committee to get ready for the presidential race."

Politicians outside Lee's faction within the DP are also preparing to enter the race.

Among them, former DP lawmaker Kim Du-kwan was the first to make an official declaration to join the race.

Shin Ha-young, Arirang News.