South Korea's acting leader resigns for likely presidential bid

Seoul, South Korea: South Korea's acting president, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, stepped down on Thursday, a sign that he plans to run to inhabit the role permanently in the June 3 presidential election.

Han has indicated for weeks that he was mulling over whether to run for the June election, which was called after the impeachment and ouster of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who had appointed Han as the No. 2 official in his administration.

Han's resignation came shortly after the country's Supreme Court made a ruling that could jeopardize the presidential bid of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the country's majority Democratic Party who polls show is the current front-runner to win the election.

That ruling threatens to add uncertainty to an election that South Koreans hope will bring an end to months of political turmoil in the country since Yoon declared martial law late last year, a short-lived episode that led to him being removed from office. Han replaced Yoon for a while but then was impeached himself, before being restored as acting president by the Constitutional Court.

"I have decided to step down to do what I can do and what I should to help overcome the crisis our nation faces," Han said in a statement Thursday.

Han stopped short of saying he would run for president. But his statement Thursday was regarded by South Korean news media and political circles as a de facto declaration of presidential ambition. Han was expected to call a news conference later this week to make his presidential bid official, local news media reported.

Following Han's resignation, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, the next in line in the government hierarchy, was to take over as acting president.

Earlier Thursday, the country's Supreme Court overturned a lower-court ruling that had acquitted Lee of violating election laws, returning the case for retrial. The Supreme Court said in its ruling that it considered Lee guilty, but the case against Lee will not be over until the lower court rules again and the Supreme Court reviews that ruling as well.

Lee's ability to run for president depends on when the lower court will rule again and what type of penalty he will get should the court find him guilty this time. By law, Lee will be barred from running in elections for five years if he receives a penalty heftier than a 1 million won ($700) fine.

It was not clear when the lower court will start deliberating the case again.

The Supreme Court's ruling Thursday cast a cloud over Lee's presidential ambition by enabling his political enemies to raise questions about his qualifications to lead the nation.

Lee was elected his party's presidential candidate with overwhelming support Sunday. He won nearly 90% of the votes cast during his party's primary race. He has been the front-runner by a large margin in public opinion surveys in recent weeks that asked South Koreans who they favored as president.

Some politicians affiliated with the People Power Party have been urging Han to run for president. The party, the country's second-largest, will select its candidate Saturday, and that person and Han may have to negotiate to decide who should represent the party in the election. Currently, Han does not belong to a party.

The party, which had supported Yoon, said that the Supreme Court ruling Thursday should disqualify the Democratic Party's Lee as a presidential candidate.

"It's common sense for him to step down as presidential candidate," said the People Power Party's leader, Kwon Young-se.

Lee vowed to continue, saying that the people, not judges, should decide the future of the country.

"I will only trust the people and move ahead confidently," he said in a statement posted on his Facebook account. Lee faces several trials on criminal charges, which he said Yoon's government had engineered for political purposes.

In November, a district court convicted Lee of violating election laws and sentenced him to a suspended prison term, saying that he made false statements during his previous presidential campaign. He lost that race to Yoon by a razor-thin margin. But in March, an appeals court acquitted him. It was this last ruling that the Supreme Court overturned Thursday.

Lee's election-law trial has been closely watched because of its political implications. If he is removed from the presidential race, it could further deepen political tensions between the Democratic Party and the People Power Party.

In a rally near the Supreme Court on Thursday, Lee's supporters accused the court of "meddling in politics." In a nearby gathering, his detractors shouted, "Send Lee Jae-myung to prison!"