The politics of South Korea take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is the head of state, and of a multi-party system. To ensure a separation of powers, the Republic of Korea Government is made up of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The government exercises executive power and legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and comprises a Supreme Court, appellate courts, and a Constitutional Court.
The Liberty Korea Party (Korean: 자유한국당) was a conservative political party in South Korea that was described variously as right-wing, right-wing populist, or far-right. Until February 2017, it was known as the Saenuri Party, and before that as the Hannara Party from 1997 to 2012, both of which are still colloquially used to refer to the party. The party formerly held a plurality of seats in the 20th Assembly before its ruling status was transferred to the Democratic Party of Korea on 27 December 2016, following the creation of the splinter Bareun Party by former Saenuri members who distanced themselves from President Park Geun-hye in the 2016 South Korean political scandal.
Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 18 December 1997. The result was a victory for opposition candidate Kim Dae-jung, who won with 40.3 percent of the vote. When he took office in 1998, it marked the first time in Korean history that the ruling party peacefully transferred power to the opposition party.
Fumio Kishida is a Japanese politician who served as the 64th prime minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2021 to 2024. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1993. Kishida previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017 and as acting Minister of Defense in 2017. From 2017 to 2020, he also chaired the LDP Policy Research Council.
Ahn Cheol-soo is a South Korean politician, medical doctor, businessperson, and software entrepreneur. He is a member of the National Assembly as part of the conservative People Power Party. Prior to his career in politics, Ahn founded AhnLab, Inc., an antivirus software company, in 1995. He was chairman of the board and Chief Learning Officer of AhnLab until September 2012, and remains the company's largest stakeholder. Prior to entering politics, Ahn served as dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University until September 2012. Ahn was considered a left-wing politician when he entered politics in 2012, then considered a centrist politician by his 2017 presidential bid, and is now considered a right-wing politician.
Hong Joon-pyo, also spelled as Hong Jun-pyo, is a South Korean politician and former prosecutor who is the current Mayor of Daegu. He previously served as the governor of South Gyeongsang Province, a member of the National Assembly for five terms, and the party leader of the conservative Grand National Party in 2011 and its successor incarnation the Liberty Korea Party from 2017 to 2018.
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.
The Democratic Party, formerly known as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, is a centrist-liberal South Korean political party. The DPK and its rival, the People Power Party (PPP), form the two major political parties of South Korea.
Lee Jae-myung is a South Korean politician serving as a member of the National Assembly and the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Lee was the nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2022 South Korean presidential election. He was the 35th Governor of Gyeonggi Province from 2018 to 2022.
Lee Nak-yon, also known as Lee Nak-yeon, is a South Korean politician who served as the 45th prime minister of South Korea from 2017 to 2020. A member of the New Reform Party, he is the longest-serving prime minister since the Constitution of South Korea was last revised in 1987. Lee previously held the governorship of South Jeolla Province province from 2014 to 2017, a stronghold of his party. Before serving as governor, he worked as a journalist for over 20 years and served as a member of the National Assembly for four terms.
Yoon Suk Yeol is a South Korean politician and attorney who has been the 13th and current president of South Korea since 2022. A member of the People Power Party, he previously served as the prosecutor general of South Korea from 2019 to 2021 under his presidential predecessor Moon Jae-In.
The People Power Party, formerly known as the United Future Party, is a conservative and right-wing political party in South Korea. It controls the South Korean presidency and is the second largest party in the National Assembly. The PPP, along with its historic rival, the Democratic Party, make up the two largest political parties in South Korea.
Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 9 March 2022. Under the South Korean constitution, presidents are restricted to a single five-year term, meaning that incumbent president Moon Jae-in was ineligible to run for a second term. Opposition candidate Yoon Suk Yeol of the People Power Party won the election, defeating candidate Lee Jae-myung of the incumbent Democratic Party.
The 2021 South Korean by-elections were held in South Korea on 7 April 2021. The National Election Commission announced on 2 March 2021, that the by-elections would be held for 21 public offices or electoral districts, including 2 Metropolitan mayors, 2 Municipal mayors, 8 Metropolitan Council constituencies, and 9 Municipal Council constituencies. Candidate registration ran from 18 to 19 March, and the list of candidates was confirmed on 26 March.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is a liberal political party in Japan. It is the primary centre-left party in Japan, and as of 2024 is the second largest party in the National Diet behind the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
The following lists events in the year 2022 in South Korea.
The 8th local elections were held in South Korea on 1 June 2022. These elections came after the presidential election in March 2022, and coincided with the by-elections for the vacant seats in the National Assembly. It was the first nationwide election under President Yoon Suk Yeol after taking office on 10 May.
Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 10 April 2024. All 300 members of the National Assembly were elected, 254 from first-past-the-post constituencies and 46 from proportional party lists. The two largest parties, the liberal Democratic Party and the conservative People Power Party, once again set up satellite parties to take advantage of the electoral system.
Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai, often shortened to Seiwa Kai, was a major faction within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). It was led by Shinzo Abe from 2021 until his assassination in 2022, and hence has been nicknamed the Abe faction. Since Abe's death, it had collective leadership. The faction announced its dissolution in January 2024.
