Six weeks before the general election that will decide the president to replace the disgraced Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korean society is deeply divided and showing few signs of uniting for the good of the nation behind the incoming administration.

Seoul was a hotbed of political protests in the run-up to the ruling by the Constitutional Court on April 4 upholding Yoon's impeachment for his brief declaration of martial law in December, with days of vast rallies for and against his administration kept apart by a heavy police presence.

Yoon's removal from office and the opening of his trial for insurrection have shifted the debate to his replacement.

Four members of Yoon's conservative People Power Party (PPP) are competing for the nomination as a candidate in the upcoming vote.

They face a similar number of contenders from their liberal rival, the Democratic Party (DP), although their leader, Lee Jae-myung, has already emerged as the DP's frontrunner.

Protesters are again expected to be out in force as the June 3 polling date nears and they seem as split as ever.

"South Korea's political polarization is deep and can be traced to a combination of historical and institutional factors, such as decades of authoritarian rule, rapid democratization and economic changes, as well as attitudes........

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