Six months of turmoil: A timeline
Below is a timeline of key events from former President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, to his impeachment and removal on April 4 and the early presidential election held on June 3.
Dec. 3, 2024
President Yoon Suk Yeol declares martial law, accusing lawmakers of 'anti-state activities.'
Dec. 4, 2024
National Assembly overrides the martial law order in an emergency session.
Dec. 14, 2024
Yoon is impeached by the National Assembly and suspended from office.
Jan. 15, 2025
Yoon is detained by prosecutors, becoming the first sitting president to be arrested.
Jan. 19, 2025
Pro-Yoon supporters storm a Seoul courthouse after his arrest is upheld.
March 8, 2025
Yoon is released after 52 days in jail.
April 4, 2025
The Constitutional Court unanimously removes Yoon from office, citing serious violations of the Constitution.
April 8, 2025
Acting President Han Duck-soo announces an early presidential election will be held on June 3.
April 27, 2025
Lee Jae-myung secures the Democratic Party's nomination.
May 10, 2025
The People Power Party nominates Kim Moon-soo as its presidential candidate after internal conflict.
May 12, 2025
Official campaign period begins nationwide.
May 29-30, 2025
Early voting is held; turnout reaches 34.74 percent, slightly lower than 2022.
June 3, 2025
South Koreans vote to elect a new leader.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
10 hours ago
- Korea Herald
People Power Party scrambling in aftermath of election
The People Power Party on Wednesday grappled with the decisive presidential election loss of its candidate, Kim Moon-soo, as several voices within the conservative bloc called for reform and new leadership. At around 1:35 a.m. on Wednesday, Kim delivered a speech conceding defeat in the presidential election to liberal Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung. Some 84 percent of ballots were counted at the time of his speech. Lee had held a clear lead with 48.3 percent of the vote to Kim's 42.9 percent. The three major broadcasters had already conducted and released exit polls that projected Lee as the winner. Upon completion of vote counting, Lee had won 49.42 percent of the votes compared to Kim's 41.14 percent. 'I humbly accept the people's choice,' Kim said in a press conference at the People Power Party headquarters in western Seoul. 'I congratulate Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, who has been elected." Members of the party's leadership, the emergency response committee, had yet to announce their resignations as of Wednesday afternoon, despite growing calls for them to step down and take responsibility for the election loss. The mood shifted later as Kim criticized his party for having "no sense of obligation" to protect democracy, at a ceremony marking the dissolution of the People Power Party's election campaign committee in the afternoon. "I believe I've committed a big, historic crime. And I've thought deeply over the reason, and this is because our party lacks any basic understanding of democracy and has no sense of obligation to protect it," he said. The former labor minister indirectly took a jab at the party leadership's failed attempt to strip him of his candidacy to replace him with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo weeks ago in mid-May. Critics say that the overnight tug-of-war between Kim and the party leadership had soured voter sentiment against the conservative party. "Democracy within our party has collapsed. The democracy was completely gone when we were deciding who to vote for as the party leader and who to pick as the candidate," Kim said. Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, who was co-chair of the People Power Party's election campaign committee, labeled the latest election loss as 'a stern order (from the people) calling for the party's change to the core,' in a Wednesday Facebook post. 'No one (within the party), including me, is free from the responsibility of the loss,' he added. Echoing Rep. Kim's sentiment, People Power Party Rep. Park Jeong-hun said that the 'emergency response committee under interim leader Kim Yong-tae must be immediately dismantled,' via Facebook. 'We must form a new party leadership as soon as possible to design a new path for the party's future.' Former People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon similarly called Lee's election victory "a stern order from the people asking the political forces that supported an illegal martial law bid to leave," in a Facebook post uploaded early in the day. Addressing such growing calls, People Power Party interim leader Kim Yong-tae told reporters he plans to "make a decision" after reviewing what is best "for the party and the people." At around noon, Kim Yong-tae attended a celebratory luncheon meeting tied to Lee's swearing-in ceremony at the National Assembly, where he congratulated the president on his election victory in person. At the same time, he expressed concerns about the Democratic Party's plans to pass several unilateral bills at the plenary meeting scheduled for Thursday. The interim leader said that the People Power Party is willing to actively cooperate with Lee and the Democratic Party if they are willing to uphold the system of proportional representation at the parliament and 'mutual benefits' for both sides of the political sphere. At the earlier press conference held to deliver his concession speech, Kim Moon-soo thanked members of the People Power Party and the public for their support. 'South Korea has been able to make great progress in the face of any crisis backed by the power of its people,' he said. 'I sincerely thank the people who gave undeserving support to a candidate who lacks many things.' Kim shook the hands of the People Power Party's election campaign committee members — including interim leader Kim Yong-tae — and reporters before leaving the scene.
Korea Herald
11 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Lee Jae-myung's power play: Outsider's climb to top
From factory boy to president, the liberal winner of South Korea's election says he was driven by "anger" at inequality The presidential victory of Lee Jae-myung has been cast as a "win for those who are not part of the establishment, and outside the mainstream" by the Democratic Party of Korea. Lee's political journey that culminated with his being elected president has been rocky and drama-filled, to say the least. "It's not easy working for Lee Jae-myung. Things always seem to happen to him. But he is a guy who gets up every time," one of his close aides told The Korea Herald. At a campaign rally Saturday in Daejeon, one of the swing cities that was watched closely, Lee boasted that he has "dodged every bullet that came [his] way." Over the campaign, Lee shrugged off his criminal trials, cited as one of his most critical liabilities, claiming he had been wrongfully charged by prosecutors. Like he said, Lee glided past many controversies that would have disqualified any major politician. Neither Lee's notorious foul-mouthed rant at his sister-in-law, the recording of which was leaked to the public, nor his alleged affair with an actress, significantly hurt his popularity, if his election win is any testament. Anti-establishment outsider Lee, who likes to describe himself as an outsider, started off at the Democratic Party in 2007 as a "lowly" deputy spokesperson, a role that is usually given to novice politicians who have not yet won public office. Not many of the people who knew Lee from his very early days are still around. But the tale goes that even then, Lee was more ambitious than a typical deputy spokesperson. Lee felt he was snubbed by mainstream Democratic Party lawmakers at the time, according to an insider account, and that it was what drove him. "He remembers the humiliation," the insider, speaking anonymously, said. "But in the end, that only fueled him." Lee left the Seoul stage for 11 years, serving as Seongnam mayor and then as Gyeonggi Province governor, until 2021. When Lee won the Democratic Party's nomination for president in the 2022 race, at the second attempt, it was a political Cinderella story. Past presidential nominees of the Democratic Party, more often than not, had made it to the top of the party before they could launch a bid, working their way up from the inside. Lee did it from the outside in. "Do you know why they are so afraid of Lee Jae-myung? It's because I came from the fringes. I make the establishment uncomfortable," Lee told a roaring crowd of supporters on Saturday. Policy bulldozer Lee first made his name as fiery mayor of Seongnam, a city in the southern part of Gyeonggi, the province that surrounds Seoul, where he served for two consecutive terms from 2010 to 2018. Lee's signature policy from his Seongnam era is his "free" welfare program that was taken to the Supreme Court for allegedly violating the laws on social security. This is when Lee's experiment with universal basic income began, and when he learned of its popular appeal. Lee, vowing to make Seongnam the "city of free welfare benefits," doled out vouchers that can be used like cash in the city in spite of fiscal concerns. By 2018, when Lee became governor of Gyeonggi Province, the most populous of any local administration, with 13 million people, his name was more recognized nationally. As governor, Lee was known for pushing through tough COVID-19 restrictions, which were cheered by people who were fed up with the pandemic, but also invited controversy over rights infringement. In 2020, Lee live-streamed himself busting a church in Gyeonggi Province that became the site of an outbreak, and took a nasal swab from the pastor on tape for COVID-19 testing — a telling scene for which he still gets recognition for. Unlikely hero After his defeat to former President Yoon Suk Yeol three years ago, Lee ran for and won a seat on the National Assembly, which was criticized as a possible ploy to evade his legal problems, as sitting lawmakers have immunity from certain criminal proceedings. Lee eventually sat on the top of the Democratic Party leadership ladder, and while he was the party's chair, almost had an arrest warrant out against him. Lee is "more like a villain, albeit a popular villain, than a hero," a Democratic Party insider said. "Sure he may not play nice. But you know what? You can count on him to get things done." At 54, he launched his first presidential bid in 2017 at the Seongnam factory where he had worked as a child to support his family. Standing beside his mother, he recalled losing function in one arm from an accident there. Despite no formal schooling, Lee passed the bar, graduated from Chung-Ang University, and engaged in civic activism as a practicing lawyer before entering politics. Lee once famously said he is motivated by anger. "Perhaps because of how I was brought up, I have a lot of anger toward inequality. It's what motivates me, politically," Lee said in a press interview in 2020.
Korea Herald
15 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Seoul shares spike nearly 3% on hope for policy push under Lee administration
South Korean shares closed nearly 3 percent higher Wednesday on hopes for a policy push by the Lee Jae-myung government. The Korean won also rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 71.87 points, or 2.66 percent, to close at 2,770.84. Trade volume was heavy at 485.85 million shares worth 11.95 trillion won ($8.7 billion), with gainers beating losers 798 to 119. Foreign and institutional investors bought a net 1.05 trillion won and 203.48 billion won, respectively, while individuals sold a net 1.22 trillion won. Analysts said foreign investors picked up local stocks on expectations that the new administration would support key sectors. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.51 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.81 percent. Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party won the presidential election, defeating Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party. The vote followed the ouster of former President Yoon Suk Yeol after martial law was imposed in December. Lee began his five-year term earlier in the day. Most large-cap stocks advanced. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.76 percent to 57,800 won, and its rival SK hynix jumped 4.82 percent to 217,500 won. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 1.09 percent to 186,000 won, and national flag carrier Korean Air gained 0.66 percent to 22,800 won. Mirae Asset Securities surged 13.25 percent to 17,690 won on expectations tied to Lee's pledge to usher in a "KOSPI 5,000 era" by reviving economic growth. Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 1.41 percent to 288,500 won, and No. 1 steelmaker POSCO Holdings was up 0.61 percent to 245,500 won. Among losers, state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. fell 1.5 percent to 29,650 won, and top cosmetics firm AmorePacific declined 0.15 percent to 134,100 won. The local currency was quoted at 1,369.50 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 3.6 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
