South Korea’s election race upended as acting president resigns and SC orders retrial of Liberal frontrunner

South Korea’s volatile political landscape was shaken further on Thursday (May 1) as acting President Han Duck-soo announced his resignation and liberal frontrunner Lee Jae-myung faced a potential disqualification following a Supreme Court ruling that revived an election law case against him.

In a nationally televised address, Han said he was stepping down to take on “a bigger responsibility” for the country, a statement widely interpreted as confirmation of his intention to run in the upcoming June 3 presidential election.

Local media reported that Han will officially launch his campaign on Friday (May 2), positioning himself as a unifying figure for conservatives ahead of the high-stakes snap vote triggered by the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Han, who had been serving as prime minister and subsequently assumed the role of acting president after Yoon was removed from office in the wake of a controversial martial law declaration in December, is expected to align with the embattled People Power Party. The conservative bloc has been in disarray since Yoon’s ouster, and Han’s entry into the race could offer the party a chance to consolidate its base against the liberal opposition.

Yet even as the conservative camp scrambles to regroup, the liberal side was dealt a serious blow. South Korea’s Supreme Court overturned an earlier ruling that had acquitted Lee Jae-myung of making false statements during a 2022 presidential campaign. The court found that Lee’s comments were significant enough to mislead voters and warranted a retrial.

Lee’s statements during his unsuccessful campaign for president in 2022 were “deemed false claims concerning matters of sufficient significance to mislead voters in assessing the candidate’s suitability for public office,” the court ruled.

If convicted in the retrial, Lee would face a potential prison sentence or a fine exceeding one million won, which would disqualify him from seeking office for five years. Although Lee can appeal any conviction, legal experts say the retrial is unlikely to conclude before the June election, injecting uncertainty into his candidacy at a critical moment.

Lee, the former governor of Gyeonggi Province and former opposition leader, has consistently led in public opinion polls, benefitting from a fractured conservative front and lingering disillusionment over Yoon’s authoritarian tilt. His possible disqualification would dramatically reshape the electoral field just weeks before voters head to the polls.

The dual developments have cast a shadow over the snap election, which was called following one of the most dramatic political collapses in South Korea’s recent history. Yoon’s declaration of martial law on December 3 led to mass protests and parliamentary impeachment, a process that culminated in the Constitutional Court affirming his removal from office in March.

The coming days are expected to clarify the contours of the race, as Han formally enters the fray and the legal battle surrounding Lee intensifies.

With inputs from agencies