The Justice Party is a centre-left to left-wing political party in South Korea. It has been described as liberal and progressive. It was founded on 21 October 2012 when the former New Progressive Party faction, former People's Participation Party faction, and moderates in the Unified Progressive Party split from the Unified Progressive Party. The Justice Party now takes a more moderate stance than the United Progressive Party or the Democratic Labor Party in the past. The Justice Party temporarily changed its name to, "Green-Justice Party" (Korean: 녹색정의당) on 30 January 2024 in an electoral pact with the Green Party Korea for the 2024 South Korean legislative election. On 27 April 2024, the party reverted back to its original name.

Early presidential elections were held in South Korea on 9 May 2017 following the impeachment and removal of Park Geun-hye. The elections were conducted in a single round, on a first-past-the-post basis, and had originally been scheduled for 20 December 2017. However, they were brought forward after the decision of the Constitutional Court on 10 March 2017 to uphold the National Assembly's impeachment of Park. Following procedures set out in the Constitution of South Korea, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn succeeded Park as the acting president. After Park was removed from office by the Constitutional Court's ruling, acting president Hwang announced he would not run for a term in his own right.