South Korea News: Presidential Election Set On May 9; What To Expect?

South Korea is headed to a presidential election following the impeachment of former President Park Geun-Hye. Meantime, aging farmers in Seongju county protested against the US missile-defense system in the country.

South Korea Will Vote For A New President

On May 9, South Korea will witness a presidential election that seeks to replace former President Park after being removed from office in March due to allegations of corruption. Meantime, Park will face the trial on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, South Korea's electorate is expected to punish Park's fellow conservatives by electing a liberal. Incidentally, the poll will also serve as a referendum on US relations, which will show how close the South Koreans would want to be with the US. Meantime, Moon Jae-in, a liberal and a human rights lawyer calling for a dialogue with North Korea, including likely better relations with Washington is currently leading in the polls

The recent protest in South Korea, meantime, has seen the clash between the protesters and the riot police in Seongju, where the US military is reported to install a defense system aimed at shooting down North Korean missiles. As more South Koreans are starting to oppose this, presidential front-runner Moon has vowed to renegotiate the deal, NPR reported.

Angry South Koreans Want THAAD Withdrawn

Farmers in the Seongju county of South Korea protested against the installation of an advanced US missile-defense system. THAAD, which stands for Terminal High Altitude Defense that both governments of South Korea and the US are believed to be the key to coping with the increasing missile threat from North Korea. Once completed, the battery will have six truck-mounted launchers that could fire up to 48 interceptors at a coming missile detected by the x-band radar of the system, ABS News reported.