section_path: Abstract
section_name: Abstract
paragraph_text: Early presidential elections were held in South Korea on 3 June 2025. Democratic Party nominee and former opposition leader Lee Jae-myung defeated the ruling People Power Party nominee Kim Moon-soo and Reform Party nominee Lee Jun-seok.
  
  They were the ninth presidential elections since the 1987 democratization and the establishment of the Sixth Republic, the second to be held following an impeachment, and the first to take place in a year different from the original schedule. Originally scheduled for 3 March 2027, the election was brought forward to 3 June 2025, following the impeachment and removal of Yoon Suk Yeol. An early election is required by the constitution of South Korea within 60 days of a presidential vacancy. The 2025 early election was triggered by the 4 April decision of the Constitutional Court of Korea that removed Yoon from office. Later, the government officially called an election for 3 June – the second snap presidential election in South Korean history.
  
  Lee, who narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon, ran again. Voter turnout was 79.38%, the highest since the 1997 presidential election. Campaign issues included the 2024 martial law crisis, infighting within the PPP, the economy, housing costs, political polarization, Trump tariffs, gender equality, cost-of-living crisis, and the aging crisis.