People line up to cast their votes during the Seoul mayoral by-elections at Yunjung Middle School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, western Seoul, on April 7, 2021. (Korea Herald DB)
People line up to cast their votes during the Seoul mayoral by-elections at Yunjung Middle School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, western Seoul, on April 7, 2021. (Korea Herald DB)

The Constitutional Court's removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office Friday has had many schools in South Korea adjusting their academic calendars.

The reason? The nation must hold a snap election to select the next president, likely between late May and early June, and schools are used as polling stations.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, schools will have two options: canceling scheduled discretionary holidays, such as Labor Day on May 1 and Memorial Day on June 6, or delaying the start of vacation by one day. Each school will decide on a specific method of adjustment.

On top of this, high schools nationwide are closely monitoring the possibility that the snap election date will be set for June 3, which will then coincide with a mock exam date for the upcoming Suneung, or Korea’s state-administered college entrance exam.

The exact date of the presidential election is undecided as of now. Acting President Han Duck-soo is obligated to announce it by April 14.

South Korean law stipulates that in the case of a president being incapacitated, a successor must be chosen within 60 days, which, in the case of Yoon's replacement, would be June 3.


lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com