What to know about South Korea’s high-stakes presidential vote

South Korea ended 2024 with a botched martial law order and saw yet another South Korean president impeached this April.

And just 60 days later, the country is now on the hunt for a new leader.

We recap the last 6 months and what the past half a year has left us with.

With profesor Mason Richey.

Good morning.

Also my colleague, Kim Jung-sil.

Welcome, Jung-sil.

1. Jung-sil, it's been such a hectic year for South Korea.

And it was the December 3rd martial law order to begin with that caught South Korean people and the entire world off guard?

Yes, Dami. It all began on the night of December 3rd, when then-President Yoon Suk Yeol stunned the nation by declaring martial law in a late-night televised address.

He accused the opposition-led National Assembly of paralyzing the government and invoked sweeping emergency powers, banning all political activity and tightening media control.

Moments later, troops surrounded the Assembly building.

But around 1 AM on December 4th, 190 lawmakers, including members of Yoon's own party, some scaling the fences to get in, convened inside and unanimously voted to overturn the decree.

Martial law was officially lifted just hours later.

Yoon publicly apologized but the political backlash was overwhelming. On December 14th, the Assembly voted to impeach him.

He became the first sitting president detained while in office and was eventually indicted on charges of insurrection.

The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment on April 4th, ruling that Yoon had gravely disrupted the democratic order.

Under South Korean law, a new election must be held within 60 days when a president is removed from office.

So, the snap presidential vote was set for June 3rd, bringing us to today.

2. Time flew, but the past 6 months was certainly a challenging time for South Korea.

Professor Richey, this political drama was an experience we didn't need to go through.

Do you think South Korea is ready to move on from the political crisis with this snap election?

3. This is the actual election day, but in-person early voting had already taken place both at home and abroad, showing record high figures.

Let's start with the two-day early voting last week.

Yes, Dami. Ahead of today's vote, South Koreans already showed strong engagement through early and overseas voting.

Early voting at home closed with a turnout of 34.74%, slightly lower than the 36.93% recorded in the last presidential election.

Still, considering this year's early voting took place entirely on weekdays, participation remained strong.

Turnout was highest in the liberal southwest, including Jeollanam-do Province (56.50%), while conservative regions such as Daegu (25.63%) and Busan(30.37%) lagged behind in the mid-20s and low 30s.

Turnout may have dipped partly because early voting fell on Thursday and Friday this time, unlike the Friday and Saturday schedule in 2022.

The National Election Commission rolled out hourly turnout updates and live 24-hour CCTV feeds of early ballot boxes, part of a wider push to boost transparency and public trust.

As for overseas voting, the numbers hit an all-time high with a 79.5% turnout.

Ballots were cast in 223 locations across 118 countries, including first-time participants Lithuania and Luxembourg.

All overseas ballots have now been sealed and transported back to Korea via diplomatic channels, and they will be counted together with domestic votes today.

4. The high early and overseas voter turnouts are raising hopes for high overall voter participation as well.

Where do you think these higher numbers came from?

It's certainly a good sign more people make sure their votes count.

5. Ahead of this election day, the presidential candidates have had a roughly 3-week long campaign period.

And this was also not a smooth ride, was it?

That's right, Dami. The campaign period was anything but smooth, especially for the ruling People Power Party.

In a dramatic overnight shake-up, the party leadership tried to replace its nominee, Kim Moon-soo, with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, just one day before registration closed.

Kim called it a "political coup" and filed legal action.

Hours later, an internal vote rejected the switch, and Kim was reinstated.

Kim also pursued a last-minute unity deal with Lee Jun-seok of the New Reform Party, but that too failed.

Lee firmly rejected the merger, calling it regressive and a step backward for conservative reform.

Lee Jae-myung stuck to his message, promising to bring an end to the six months of political chaos triggered by martial law.

6. Professor Richey, do you think all the hassle and the failure to form a conservative merger had any impact on this snap election, or not as much? What makes you think so, and was this an unnecessary drama?

7. To be exact, the presidential runners had 22 days to woo voters they were the most suitable leader.

How they did make the most out of the campaign period?

That's right, Dami.

The frontrunner Lee Jae-myung ran a high-security campaign unlike anything ever seen in South Korea.

Lee wore a bulletproof vest and stood behind ballistic glass, marking the first time in Korea's electoral history that a major candidate campaigned in such visible protective gear.

His team cited credible threats, including reports of smuggled firearms.

It also comes just over a year after Lee survived a knife attack while campaigning in Busan, adding to the charged atmosphere around this election.

Kim Moon-soo spent the final stretch of his campaign slamming Lee, repeatedly referencing his ongoing legal battles.

Lee Jun-seok, meanwhile, hit college campuses, using student cafeterias as a backdrop to rally young voters behind his call for generational change.

8. Campaigning with a bulletproof vest shows how much the country is exposed to deeper political polarization that could be a growing threat to democratic stability.

Can we be hopeful this election will be a stepping stone for conquering political polarization in South Korea under the new administration?

Whether liberal or conservative, South Korea and the people of South Korea are ready to welcome a new administration.

A big thank you to professor Richey for coming in.

And also thank you Jung-sil for the thorough wrapup. We appreciate it.