Official Candidate Registration Until May 11
Official Campaign Period Starts May 12
It was reported on the 7th that the presidential election date, held due to the impeachment of former President Yoon Seok-yeol, has been decided as Tuesday, June 3.
A government official stated on the day, "At tomorrow's regular Cabinet meeting, this agenda will be submitted and the election date will be finalized and announced." The official explained, "Although there is no clear legal basis requiring the Cabinet meeting to designate the election date, since it is an important agenda and involves designating the election day as a temporary holiday, it will be resolved through a Cabinet meeting."
According to the Constitution and the Public Official Election Act, the presidential election must be held within 60 days from the day after the Constitutional Court confirms the president's impeachment, and the election date must be announced at least 50 days in advance. Former President Yoon was impeached by the Constitutional Court's ruling on the 4th. Accordingly, Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo must designate one day between May 24 and June 3 as the presidential election date by the 14th.
While the presidential election date under normal circumstances such as term expiration is set on a Wednesday, there is no separate regulation regarding the day of the week for an early election due to presidential vacancy. The government decided to designate the latest possible date within the legally stipulated range as the election day. Since this is an unexpected early election, it is desirable to postpone the election date as much as possible to fully guarantee the voting rights of voters and candidates, and the executive branch also needs to secure maximum time for election preparations.
When former President Park Geun-hye was impeached by the Constitutional Court's ruling on March 10, 2017, the next presidential election date was also set as Tuesday, May 9, exactly 60 days later. If the election date is confirmed as June 3, the official candidate registration day will be May 11, 24 days before the election, and the official campaign period will be from May 12 to June 2, the day before the election. Public officials wishing to run for office must resign by May 4, 30 days before the election.
The president-elect begins the presidential term immediately upon confirmation of election. No separate presidential transition committee will be formed. Earlier, the National Election Commission started preliminary candidate registration for the 21st presidential election on the 4th, when the early election due to former President Yoon's impeachment was confirmed.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education plans to change the schedule of the June mock exam for the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test, which was originally planned for the next presidential election date.
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