South Korea Entangled In A Sticky And Politicized Legal Web
Date
12/23/2024 5:08:39 AM
(MENAFN- Asia Times)
SEOUL – With impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's fate hinging on a pending Constitutional Court decision, speculation is rising about possible new presidential elections in South Korea.
If the court upholds parliament's impeachment motion earlier this month and formally unseats Yoon in the weeks ahead, South Koreans would head to the polls within 60 days to vote in a new national leader.
In that scenario, opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung would be the apparent front-runner at 37%, according to a Gallup Korea poll conducted between December 17-19 on“future Political leader” preferences.
He's trailed widely by Han Dong-hoon, the recently displaced ruling People Power Party leader, and Hong Joon-pyo, the flamboyant conservative mayor of Daegu, both of whom notched just 5% on the same Gallup Korea poll.
While South Korean politics are notoriously unpredictable, Yoon's increasingly likely ouster would seemingly pave the way to a new leftist leader's election.
Recent history points in that direction. In May 2017, leftist Moon Jae-in secured a decisive victory in an early presidential election following the sudden downfall of rightist President Park Geun-hye.
But this time around, Yoon's right-wing fall is no guarantee of Lee's left-wing rise. That's because opposition leader Lee is grappling with legal woes of his own that would present significant hurdles to a potential presidential bid.
In November, Lee was convicted of violating election laws, a decision that, if upheld by the Supreme Court before the next presidential election, would bar him from running.
Under the Public Official Election Act, rulings in the second and third trials of election violation cases must be issued within three months of the previous court sentence.
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