Candidate filing for posts ahead of South Korea's June 3 local election and parliamentary by-election began Thursday, according to election authorities.
The filing will be open from Thursday to Friday, the National Election Commission said in a release shared 20 days before the election for the country's future mayors, provincial governors, ward chiefs, county heads, councilors and education superintendents.
A candidate running for office must be a South Korean citizen aged 18 or older, born before June 4, 2008. Those deemed ineligible for election due to election law violation or other crimes are disqualified.
Candidates must also have registered themselves as residing within the jurisdictional limits of the office before Apr. 5 to be eligible. For example, a Busan mayoral hopeful who moved to Busan on or after Apr. 5 cannot register as a Busan mayoral candidate.
Candidates must visit a local election office to submit monetary deposits, ranging from 10 million won to 50 million won ($6,700 to $33,500), and formal documents carrying voters' recommendations.
Filings also include information on candidates' properties, military service records, criminal records, academic backgrounds, tax payment records and delinquencies, and any history of running for office must be declared. The records will be accessible to voters until June 3.
Those who have either won a party contest or have been nominated to run will file for candidacy with the party's recommendation.
According to the National Election Commission, those who failed to win nomination within their party will not be able to run in the district they pursued. Those intending to run as an independent candidate must present proof that they are not affiliated with any South Korean political party. Those who switched political parties during the filing period will also be ineligible to run in the election.
Rival parties switched to election mode earlier this week. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea chair Rep. Jung Chung-rae is leading the party's election strategy committee launched Sunday, pushing for the motto of "normalization" from the 2024 martial law crisis. The main opposition People Power Party's chair Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok launched a similar committee Wednesday aimed at blocking its liberal rival's move to cancel President Lee Jae Myung's indictments.
Those who have filed for candidacy before Friday will be eligible to launch official campaigning May 21 to June 2.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
