South Korea's presidential candidates faced off in a heated first TV debate on Sunday evening, ahead of a snap election on June 3 to choose a successor to former President Yoon Suk Yeol who was impeached over his short-lived martial law declaration in December.

The presidential candidates representing South Korea’s two largest political parties agreed on the importance of the country’s relationship with the United States during a recent televised debate but differed on how to handle its adversaries.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy contracted in the first quarter as exports and consumption stalled amid fears over the impact of tariffs.