WHO’S NEXT? A LOOK AT PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDERS

>> SEOUL: Fresh off impeachment, South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s days in office may be numbered.

Her potential successors include the outgoing secretary general of the United Nations, an ambitious mayor who has been compared to both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders and the man who conceded the presidential race to Ms Park four years ago.

Ms Park was suspended as president on Friday. She will be formally removed from office if six of the Constitutional Court’s nine justices support her impeachment in a review that could take up to six months.

The chances of the court reinstating Ms Park are considered low, and if she’s unseated, the country must hold a presidential election within 60 days. A look at the contenders:

BAN KI-MOON

A career diplomat, Mr Ban has been seen as a future South Korean president ever since the UN made him secretary general in October 2006.

He could be the best hope for conservatives to win back the Blue House — South Korea’s presidential office — after Ms Park’s collapse complicated politics f or her party.

If he does make a run for the Blue House, Mr Ban could represent Ms Park’s ailing Saenuri Party, which is likely to regroup soon around anti-Park reformists. Or he could be the face of a new party created by defectors from Saenuri and the liberal opposition. Mr Ban’s supporters point to his credibility as an internationally respected diplomat and say he would show more imagination and skill in dealing with nuclear-armed North than the rigid Ms Park. His detractors point to his lack of domestic experience and argue that he did an unremarkable job in a high-profile post.

LEE JAE-MYUNG

Mr Lee, the outspoken mayor of Seongnam city and member of the main opposition Democratic Party, entered the year as a fringe presidential contender. But he has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity in recent months amid rage over the Park scandal.

A factory worker and human rights lawyer before entering politics, Mr Lee brands himself as an anti-establishment figure and has a habit of firing off diatribes on Facebook and Twitter. He doesn’t mind comparisons to Mr Trump, although he says he would prefer to be a “successful Bernie Sanders”.

Mr Lee calls for stronger policies to reduce the widening gap between rich and poor and help blue-collar families. He also endorses breaking up the chaebol — the large, family-owned conglomerates that dominate the country’s economy. They have been long accused of hurting competition and breeding a culture of corruption through bribery of politicians for favors. The message has won him many fans in recent weeks.

His supporters portray him as a passionate reformist; critics see a dangerous populist riding a tide of public anger.

MOON JAE-IN While for Mr Ban and Mr Lee have been hogging headlines, opinion polls show it’s actually Mr Moon, the liberal runner-up to Ms Park in the 2012 election, who’s the favourite.

A recent survey measured Mr Moon’s support at 23.5%, ahead of Ban’s 18.2%. The Democratic Party’s presidential primaries may become a showdown between Mr Moon and Mr Lee, who had 16.6% support.

Mr Moon, a former human rights lawyer and aide to late liberal president Roh Moo-hyun, pledges to fight income inequality, strengthen social welfare systems and push business reforms to curb chaebol excesses and create a level playing field for smaller companies. While Mr Moon would be a safe choice, there are questions about whether he can win; in the presidential election four years ago, he lost to Ms Park, 51.6%-48%. Conservatives have attacked Mr Moon over his links to the Roh government.