South Koreans are voting for a new president to succeed conservative Yoon Suk Yeol. He was impeached over his brief imposition of martial law. DW has more. Polls have opened in the election for a new president to succeed conservative Yoon Suk Yeol Left-wing opposition leader Lee Jae-myung is the front-runner Conservative Kim Moon Soo is polling in second place Polls are set to close at 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. UTC) The winner could be declared as soon as Wednesday Follow below for the main developments in South Korea's presidential election on Tuesday, June 2, 2025: Why is South Korea holding snap elections? South Korean voters are choosing a successor to former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yoon was impeached and removed from office over his bid to impose martial law in December. After winning the 2022 presidential election, Yoon was supposed to serve a five-year term. But on December 3, 2024, he declared martial law, something that hadn't happened since South Korea became a democracy in 1987. The National Assembly, which is controlled by the opposition, voted to impeach Yoon that same month, suspending him from duty. That decision was upheld by South Korea's Constitutional Court in April, formally removing Yoon from office. The court's decision meant the country had to hold elections within 60 days to vote for a new leader. Who are the main candidates? The two front runners are the opposition Lee Jae-myung and Kim Moon Soo. But Lee Jae-myung, 60, from the liberal Democratic Party has emerged as the clear leader in opinion surveys released in recent weeks. Lee Jae-myung, 60, from the Democratic Party is a former mayor and governor, and most recently served as a lawmaker after narrowly losing to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election. But Lee faces ongoing legal cases and investigations for corruption. Before the election, the Seoul High Court postponed a retrial against him on election law charges until after the June 3 vote. His Democratic Party already holds a parliamentary majority. You can read more about Lee Jae-myung in this DW profile. Lee's main opponent is Kim Moon Soo, from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) of impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol. He has previously served as a governor of South Korea's Gyeonggi province and was a member of the National Assembly for three terms. On the campaign trail, Kim, 73, has sought to distance himself from ousted president Yoon. But Kim was appointed labor minister by Yoon in 2024 and was widely seen as part of the disgraced leader's inner circle. Kim is trailing in polls by some 10 percentage points behind Lee Jae-myung. He was unable to convince the third-place candidate to merge forces and make the election competitive. Welcome to our coverage South Koreans are set to elect a new president in snap elections on Tuesday. Polls opened at 6 a.m. local time (10 p.m. Monday, UTC) and will close at around 8 p.m. (11 a.m. UTC). The leader of the opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, is seen as the front-runner, while conservative Kim Moon Soo of the conservative People Power Party is polling in second place. South Korea has seen six months of political chaos after Yoon declared martial law in December.