AKIPRESS.COM - South Koreans will go to the polls in May to elect a successor to Park Geun-hye, whose presidency ended last week in a historic court ruling, the government announced on Wednesday, reports The New York Times.

The vote will be May 9, nearly two months after the Constitutional Court decision last Friday, which formally removed Ms. Park from office. The ruling approved the National Assembly’s December vote to impeach her.

By law, the country must elect a new president within 60 days of the ruling, and all the major political parties have announced schedules for primary races to select their candidates.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is serving as acting president, announced the date of the election. He also said that he would not run for the job, choosing to focus instead on his role as acting president during the transition period.

Mr. Hwang, an ally of Ms. Park, had been cited as a potential candidate for conservatives in a race in which Moon Jae-in, a liberal opposition leader, has been the consistent front-runner.