Chaos in Korea: three Presidents changed in a few hours
There was some confusion in Korea after acting president, former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo declared his candidacy for president on Friday, vowing to reduce his term to three years to amend the Constitution and use his economic expertise to address the trade crisis.
The announcement was not unexpected, but it led to his resignation so he could run as a future president.
At this point the problems began . According to institutional practice, the Minister of Finance should have succeeded him, a figure who however is not appreciated by the majority of Parliament, who have threatened to put him under investigation. So, wisely, this minister resigned as Acting President within minutes of his appointment.
Parliament of South Korea
As of Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Lee Ju-ho became South Korea's new acting president, after former Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok , who was second in line to the presidential succession, resigned late Thursday following the National Assembly's impeachment call.
So in the space of an hour Korea had three Presidents, or rather three Acting Presidential Functions: Han Duck-soo, who resigned to run for president, Choi Sang-mok, who lasted a few minutes, and then Lee Ju-ho, Minister of Education.
All this comes after President Yoon Suk-yeol was forced to resign after being impeached by the Constitutional Court at the request of Parliament.
The South Korean Won took yet another hit against the dollar:
The next President, who will be elected on June 3, will have to reform a political system that is showing its limits, as well as deal with the crisis also caused by Trump's tariffs which severely hit Korean exports. Negotiations with the USA are already underway, but it will be necessary to find a new commercial balance between the two parties, probably with the export of LNG and American agricultural products.
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The article Chaos in Korea: three Presidents changed in a few hours comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/caos-in-corea-cambiati-tre-presidenti-in-poche-ore/ on Fri, 02 May 2025 09:00:30 +0000.