2025 South Korean presidential election

An early presidential election was held in South Korea on 3 June 2025. It was originally set for 3 March 2027, but the election was pushed forward after the impeachment and removal of Yoon Suk Yeol. The date of 3 June was due to the requirement by the country's constitution for an election to be held within 60 days of when the presidency becomes vacant.

Since democratization and the creation of the Sixth Republic, this was the ninth presidential election, the second election after a presidential impeachment, and the first held in a different year than originally scheduled.

Democratic Party nominee and former Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung defeated ruling People Power Party nominee Kim Moon-soo, and Reform Party nominee Lee Jun-seok in a landslide victory. Voter turnout was 79.38%, the highest since the 1997 presidential election. 

Election events
Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung has had legal troubles that may ban him from being elected president. Under the Public Official Elections act, candidates who receive more than 1 million won in fines or any prison sentence are banned from serving as a public official for 5 and 10 years respectively. In March 23, Seoul High Court reversed a decision made sentencing Lee to one year in prison with a two-year probation, allowing him to run for public office again. However, in May 2, a speedy 10-2 judgement from the Supreme Court reversed the lower court's decision, and sent the case back to Seoul High Court for a retrial. The initial date of retrial was set at May 15, but was later delayed to June 18, which is after the election date.

The two leading conservative candidates former Acting President Han Duck-soo and former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo are expected to merge their campaigns, but made little progress in doing so. Kim has said that the PPP and its chair has moved to unify campaigns without talking with him. A party spokesperson said that it's likely the party would move to remove Moon-soo of his candidacy if he did not agree to unify with Duck-soo. The PPP confirmed early on May 10 that they would cancel the nomination of Kim, and instead nominate Han at an emergency convention the same day. Later that day, members of the PPP rejected a resolution making Han the party's candidate following an all-party vote, resulting in Kim's nomination being reinstated. Han later apologized for the candidacy dispute and withdrew from the election.

Candidates
Democratic Party
Nominee
 65x65px|center|link=Democratic Party (South Korea, 2015)Democratic Party TicketLee Jae-myung for President200x200pxLeader of the Democratic Party(2022–2025)center|200x100px

Withdrawn candidates

Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries Kim Dong-yeon Kim Kyoung-soo Kim Doo-kwan 120x120px 120x120px 120x120px Governor of Gyeonggi Province(since 2022) Governor of South Gyeongsang Province(2018–2021) Member of the National Assembly(2016–2024) Withdrew: April 19 Withdrew: April 19 Withdrew: April 18   

Primary results
The 21st Democratic Party presidential primary election was held on 27 April 2025.
+  Candidate Results Number of votes Vote rate Lee Jae-myung  623,695 89.77% Kim Dong-yeon  41,307 6.87% Kim Kyoung-soo  25,512 3.36% Kim Doo-kwanWithdrew

People Power Party
Nominee

Withdrawn candidates after the primaries
Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries Han Duck-soo 129x129px Acting President of South Korea
(2024; 2025) Withdrew: May 10 

Withdrawn candidates during the primaries
Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries Han Dong-hoon Ahn Cheol-soo Hong Joon-pyo 120x120px 120x120px 120x120px Minister of Justice(2022–2023) Member of the National Assembly(since 2022) Mayor of Daegu(2022–2025) Withdrew: May 3 Withdrew: April 29    Na Kyung-won Yoo Jeong-bok Lee Cheol-woo 120x120px 120x120px 120x120px Member of the National Assembly(since 2024) Mayor of Incheon(since 2022) Governor of North Gyeongsang Province(since 2018) Withdrew: April 22    Yang Hyang-ja Yoo Seong-min Oh Se-hoon 120x120px 120x120px 120x120px Member of the National Assembly(2020–2024) Member of the National Assembly(2005–2020) Mayor of Seoul(since 2021) Withdrew: April 22 Withdrew: April 13 Withdrew: April 12   

Primary results
Candidate1st Round:22 April 20252nd Round:29 April 2025Final Round:3 May 2025Opinion PollsMembership Votes%Opinion Poll%Membership Votes%Total points (%)Kim Moon-sooAdvancedn/an/aTBD51.81%TBD 61.25%56.53% Han Dong-hoonAdvancedn/an/aTBD48.19%TBD38.75%43.37% Ahn Cheol-sooAdvancedn/an/acolspan="5"  Hong Joon-pyoAdvancedn/an/acolspan="5"  Na Kyung-woncolspan="10" Yoo Jeong-bokcolspan="10" Lee Cheol-woocolspan="10" Yang Hyang-jacolspan="10"  Votes castn/a100.0100.0TBD100.0 Sources: 

New Reform Party
Nominee

New Future Democratic Party
Lee Nak-yon hinted at a campaign for president at the National Convention for Constitutional Revision hosted by the New Future Democratic Party. On 30 April, Lee’s campaign advisor announced Lee’s candidacy registration, making his campaign official. However, on May 10, 2025, Lee decided against a run, and did not endorse a candidate.

Withdrawn candidates
Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the election Lee Nak-yon113x113pxFormer Prime Minister(2017–2020) Withdrew: May 10

Rebuilding Korea Party
On 27 April 2025, the Rebuilding Korea Party announced their support for the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung for the presidency. 

Withdrawn candidates
Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries Cho Kuk113x113pxMember of the National Assembly(2024)Ineligible

Progressive Party
On 19 April, the Progressive Party selected Kim Jae-yeon as its presidential candidate. However, she withdrew on May 9, 2025 saying that she wanted to stop the PPP, and endorsed Lee Jae-myung.

Withdrawn candidates after the primaries
Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the election Kim Jae-yeon113x113pxLeader of the Progressive Party(since 2024) Withdrew: May 9

Withdrawn candidates during the primaries
Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries Kang Sung-hee113x113pxMember of the National Assembly (since 2023) Withdrew: April 19

Democratic Labor Party
Nominee
 60x60px Kwon Yeong-guk for President220x220pxLeader of the Democratic Labor Party(since 2024)

Independents
Declared candidates
  Hwang Kyo-ahn for President 200x200px Former Acting President(2016–2017)

Withdrawn candidates
 Han Duck-soo, Acting President of South Korea (2024; 2025) and Prime Minister of South Korea (2007–2008; 2022–2025) (withdrew on 10 May 2025 to run as the People Power Party nominee)

Disqualified candidates
 Jeon Kwang-hoon, President of Christian Council of Korea

Opinion polls

Results

Notes

References

Category:2025 elections in Asia
Category:Politics of South Korea
Category:Presidential elections
Category:2025 in Asia
Category:2020s in South Korea
Category:June 2025 events
Category:Lee Jae-myung