South Korea bans former acting presidents Han Duck-soo and Choi Sang-mok from travel

News24

28-05-2025

Anthony Wallace and Jung Yeon-je/AFP
Former South Korean acting presidents have been banned from travel.
Han Duck-soo and Choi Sang-mok may not travel internationally.
South Koreans are set to vote for a new president next week.
South Korean authorities have imposed travel bans on two former acting presidents as part of an investigation into ex-leader Yoon Suk Yeol's December martial law bid, Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday.
'Police said on May 27 that former prime minister Han Duck-soo and former finance minister Choi Sang-mok have been banned from leaving the country as they are being investigated as suspects in an insurrection case,' Yonhap reported, adding the ban came into effect in mid-May.
Yoon was formally stripped of office in April after being impeached and suspended by lawmakers over his 3 December attempt to subvert civilian rule, which saw armed soldiers deployed to parliament.
He is currently on trial on insurrection charges over that declaration.
If found guilty, Yoon would become the third South Korean president to be found guilty of insurrection - after two military leaders in connection with a 1979 coup.
For charges of insurrection, Yoon could be sentenced to life in prison or the maximum penalty: The death sentence.
South Koreans go to the polls next week to elect Yoon's successor, capping months of political turmoil since the martial law declaration.
Career bureaucrat Han had been touted as a possible candidate to replace him.
Pedro Pardo/AFP
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) this month was forced to backtrack after trying to revoke former labour minister Kim Moon-soo's candidacy in favour of Han.
Reuters reported that liberal frontrunner for president Lee Jae-myung was leading his main conservative rival Kim by more than 10 percentage points in an opinion poll issued on Tuesday, though the race had tightened a week ahead of the election.
The next leader will have to mend the reputation of a country that transitioned from dictatorship to a democratic success story in the 1980s while spurring stalled growth, managing uncertain US trade policies and dealing with nuclear-armed North Korea.
Pedro Pardo/AFP
The Democratic Party candidate Lee, who has advocated using fiscal policy to support the economy and bringing to justice anyone involved in Yoon's botched attempt to declare martial law in December, had 49% public support against Kim of the People Power Party with 35%, the Gallup Korea poll showed.
Kim has eroded what was a more than 20 percentage point gap with Lee at the start of the campaign on 12 May, but has failed to convince another conservative candidate - New Reform Party's Lee Jun-seok - to drop out and back him to improve his chances.
Third-party candidate Lee Jun-seok had 11%, according to the poll, which was one of the last major surveys to be published before a week-long blackout period that begins on Wednesday, when new polls are banned from publication by law.
South Korea has been in trade talks with the US and is seeking a waiver from the tariffs President Donald Trump announced as his administration pressures Seoul to resolve a large trade imbalance between the partners.
Kim, who was a hardline labour minister under Yoon, has tried to court centrist voters, pledging business-friendly policies including deregulation and investment incentives and a tough stance against North Korea.
In a sign of divisions on the liberal side, however, former prime minister Lee Nak-yon, who represents a minority faction in the Democratic Party, announced his support for Kim on Tuesday, saying Lee's tendency to abuse majority power must be checked.