Hopefuls join race for president
People Power Party forms election body
Liberal and conservative hopefuls began lining up to launch their own bids for the presidency on Monday, three days after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office in a unanimous Constitutional Court ruling.
The Constitution says a successor to an ousted president must be elected within 60 days of removal, putting the presidential contenders on a tight timeline.
While the Democratic Party of Korea's leader, Rep. Lee Jae-myung, has long enjoyed a sizable lead in polls for preferred picks for president among both liberal and conservative options, some politicians categorized as being part of the "non-Lee faction" of the party have nonetheless announced their intentions to run.
Kim Doo-kwan, a former lawmaker with the Democratic Party who ran against Lee for the party's chair position last year and lost, said Monday he would be entering the presidential contest.
Lee has yet to officially launch a bid, before which he must vacate his seat for the Democratic Party leadership.
Also on Monday, the Democratic Party raised calls for the People Power Party to forgo nominating a candidate.
"If the People Power Party were to own up to its responsibility in producing a president who caused such damage to the country's democracy, the party would not nominate a candidate this coming election," said Rep. Park Chan-dae, the Democratic Party's floor leader.
The People Power Party on Monday appointed its former leader and former Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea as the head of the party's committee for managing the presidential election.
The announcement came after the conservative party's emergency leadership meeting on Monday, where the decision was approved.
'Chairperson Hwang, a five-term lawmaker representing Incheon in Greater Seoul, has long served our party and most recently held the position of interim leader," said spokesperson Rep. Shin Dong-wook. "Given his deep understanding of internal party affairs, we believe he is the right person to ensure a fair and impartial primary process."
Hong Joon-pyo, another conservative bigwig, said Monday he was stepping down as mayor of Daegu, a major conservative stronghold, to run for president.
Among current lawmakers, Rep. Lee Jun-seok of the minor Reform Party was the first to declare his presidential candidacy, even before the former president was formally ousted. Lee led Yoon's 2022 campaign as the then-chair of the People Power Party.
Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, who headed Yoon's presidential transition team, plans to open his presidential bid on Tuesday.
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Korea Herald
7 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Lee, Trump agree to meet soon, tee up ‘golf for alliance': Seoul
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Korea Herald
20 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Lee, Trump agree to meet soon, tee up golf for alliance: Seoul
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump agreed to meet as soon as possible — and play a round of golf — with Trump inviting Lee to visit the US, Seoul's presidential office said. The first phone call between Lee and Trump occurred around 10 p.m. Friday, two days after Lee was officially inaugurated as president on Wednesday, following his confirmed victory in Tuesday's early presidential election. The 20-minute phone conversation drew heightened attention in Seoul as the alliance faces a laundry list of pending issues on multiple fronts, from security to trade. 'The two presidents agreed to work toward reaching a tariff agreement between the US and South Korea that would be satisfactory to both countries,' said Kang Yu-jung, the presidential spokesperson, in a written statement. To that end, Lee and Trump agreed to 'encourage tangible results from the working-level negotiations.' Seoul and Washington have been engaged in working-level negotiations ahead of the expiration of a 90-day self-imposed moratorium on Trump's reciprocal tariffs, which are scheduled to take effect for each country on July 9. The deadline set by the Trump administration for all US trading partners to submit their best offers on a trade deal expired Wednesday. According to Lee's office, 'President Trump invited President Lee to visit the US, and President Lee responded that he hopes to meet and consult frequently with the US as part of their special alliance.' 'The two presidents agreed to meet at the earliest possible time — either on the sidelines of a multilateral meeting or on the occasion of a bilateral visit — to further discuss the development of the alliance," the statement added. Notably, the presidential office in Seoul disclosed that Lee and Trump 'introduced their respective golfing skills and agreed to play a round for the alliance whenever possible.' Trump and Lee could meet on the sidelines of two multilateral events in June. The first is the G7 Summit in Alberta, Canada, on June 16–17, 2025, if South Korea is invited as an observer state and decides to attend. The other opportunity is the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague on June 24–25, which South Korea has been invited to as one of four Indo-Pacific partners alongside Australia, Japan and New Zealand. Lee's office highlighted that the call between Lee and Trump was conducted with a 'friendly and informal atmosphere.' 'The two presidents also shared various anecdotes and experiences from their presidential campaigns, particularly concerning the risks of assassination and the political challenges they faced,' the presidential office said. 'They agreed that strong leadership comes from overcoming such difficulties.' The Korea Herald has learned that South Korea's Foreign Ministry sought to arrange the first phone call between the two leaders on Lee's inauguration day. However, the call occurred later than his predecessors. President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol held his first phone call with then-US President Joe Biden about five hours after his election on March 10, 2022. Similarly, President Moon Jae-in spoke with his US counterpart on the day of his inauguration, May 10, 2017, despite the absence of a traditional transition period following the early presidential election. Then President-elect Park Geun-hye held a phone call with US President Barack Obama two days after her victory on December 19, 2012. The protracted phone call drew criticism in Seoul, mainly from the opposition People Power Party — especially after the White House issued an unusual response to the presidential election, expressing US concern and opposition to "Chinese interference and influence in democracies around the world."
Korea Herald
a day ago
- Korea Herald
Bills to probe Yoon, wife pass National Assembly
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