Seoul: For the first time in 18 years, all seven candidates running in South Korea's June 3 presidential election are men, despite women making up half of the country's electorate. This marks a significant moment in the country's political history, as it is the first all-male ballot since 2007, when all 12 presidential candidates were also men. According to Anadolu Agency, women's representation in South Korea's presidential elections peaked in 2012 with Park Geun-hye's candidacy. Park, who was the leader of the Saenuri Party, became the country's first woman president. In that election, out of the seven registered candidates, four were women, including Park, Lee Jung-hee of the Unified Progressive Party, and independents Kim So-yeon and Kim Soon-ja. Women's participation in presidential elections has seen a decline since the impeachment and removal of former President Park in March 2017 due to a corruption case. In the snap election that followed in May 2017, Sim Sang-jung, the former leader of the progres sive Justice Party, was the only woman candidate among 15 contenders for the presidency. In the 2022 election, only two women were among the 14 candidates: Sim, who made history as the first woman politician in South Korea to compete in two consecutive presidential elections, and Kim Jae-yeon of the Progressive Party. The upcoming snap presidential election on June 3 is a result of the Constitutional Court's decision to remove former President Yoon Suk Yeol from office. p/CT#
