South Korean President Park Geun-hye
SEOUL, South Korea — Fresh off impeachment, South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s days in office may be numbered.
Her potential successors include the outgoing secretary general of the United Nations, an ambitious mayor who has been compared to both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, and the man who conceded the presidential race to Park four years ago.
Park was suspended as president following a parliamentary impeachment vote Friday. She will be formally removed from office if six of the Constitutional Court’s nine justices support her impeachment in a review that could take up to six months.
The chances of the court reinstating Park are considered low, and if she’s unseated, the country must hold a presidential election within 60 days.
Choices for the country’s next president include Ban Ki-moon, Lee Jae-Myung and Moon Jae-in.
Ban is a career diplomat, who has been seen as a future South Korean president ever since the UN made him secretary general in October 2006.
Lee is the outspoken mayor of Seongnam City and member of the main opposition Democratic Party, who entered the year as a fringe presidential contender while Moon is the liberal runner-up to Park in the 2012 election, who’s the favorite.