Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on April 8 set the date of the next presidential election as June 3 at a Cabinet meeting held at Government Complex-Seoul. Shown is a screen with the preliminary registration notice for candidates in the election at the headquarters of the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Dasom

The country will elect a new president on June 3.

At a Cabinet meeting held at Government Complex-Seoul on April 8, Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo deliberated on and passed a proposal to set the date and designate it a temporary holiday. The decision came four days after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office.

According to the Constitution and the Public Official Election Act, a presidential election must be held within 60 days from the day the president is forced out of office, and its date needs to be announced at least 50 days before the election.

The official designation of the date signals the start of early campaigning by hopefuls in the race.

Official candidate registration is from May 10-11. The official campaigning period is from May 12 to June 2, the day before the election.

Public officials who plan to run must resign from their posts by May 4, or 30 days before the vote.

Early voting will begin from May 29-30, or five days before the election.

Acting President Han also told the Cabinet meeting, "I request that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and other related ministries closely cooperate with the National Election Commission to do everything to fully prepare for the fairest and most transparent election in the nation's history to gain the public's trust."

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