The president of the Republic of Korea, also known as the president of Korea, is both the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president is directly elected by the citizens of the Republic of Korea and pledges to execute the duties of their office, chief among others "to defend the State, pursue peaceful unification of the homeland." The president leads the State Council, is the chief of the executive branch of the national government and the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.
The prime minister of the Republic of Korea is the deputy head of government and the second highest political office of South Korea. The prime minister is appointed by the president of the Republic of Korea, with the National Assembly's approval. The prime minister may be a member of the National Assembly, but this is not required to hold the office.
The Constitutional Court of Korea is one of the highest courts – along with the Supreme Court – in South Korea's judiciary that exercises constitutional review, seated in Jongno, Seoul. The South Korean constitution vests judicial power in courts composed of judges, which establishes the ordinary-court system, but also separates an independent constitutional court and grants it exclusive jurisdiction over matters of constitutionality. Specifically, Chapter VI Article 111 Clause 1 of the South Korean Constitution specifies the following cases to be exclusively reviewed by the Constitutional Court:
- The constitutionality of a law upon the request of the courts;
- Impeachment;
- Dissolution of a political party;
- Competence disputes between State agencies, between State agencies and local governments, and between local governments; and
- Constitutional complaints as prescribed by [the Constitutional Court] Act.
Han Duck-soo is a South Korean diplomat, economist, and politician who served as acting president of South Korea from 14 to 27 December 2024 and the 48th prime minister of South Korea from 2022. Since 27 December 2024, Han has been suspended from his prime ministerial powers following his impeachment by the National Assembly of Korea.
The first lady of the Republic of Korea, commonly known as the first lady of South Korea, is the title held by the hostess of the presidential residence, usually the wife of the president of South Korea.
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.
Hwang Kyo-ahn is a South Korean politician and prosecutor who served as acting president of South Korea from 9 December 2016 to 10 May 2017 and the prime minister of South Korea from 18 June 2015 to 11 May 2017.
Woo Won-shik is a South Korean politician who has served as Speaker of the 22nd National Assembly of South Korea since June 2024. He was a Member of the National Assembly for Nowon, Seoul from 2004 to 2008 and returned to office in 2012. He was a member of Democratic Party of Korea prior to his election as speaker in 2024. As speaker, he presided over the impeachments of President Yoon Suk-yeol and Acting President Han Duck-soo.
On 9 December 2016, Park Geun-hye, the president of South Korea, was impeached as the culmination of a political scandal involving interventions to the presidency from her aide, Choi Soon-sil. 234 members of the 300-member National Assembly voted to impeach and temporarily suspend Park's presidential powers and duties. This exceeded the required two-thirds threshold in the National Assembly and, although the vote was by secret ballot, the results indicated that more than half of the 128 lawmakers in Park's party Saenuri had supported her impeachment. Thus, Hwang Kyo-ahn, then Prime Minister of South Korea, became acting president while the Constitutional Court of Korea was due to determine whether to accept the impeachment. The court upheld the impeachment in a unanimous 8–0 decision on 10 March 2017, removing Park from office. The regularly scheduled presidential election was advanced to 9 May 2017, and Moon Jae-in, former leader of the Democratic Party, was elected as Park's permanent successor.
Yoon Suk Yeol is a South Korean lawyer and politician who has served as the 13th president of South Korea since 2022. A member of the People Power Party (PPP), Yoon previously served as the prosecutor general of South Korea from 2019 to 2021 under his presidential predecessor, Moon Jae-in. Since 14 December 2024, Yoon has been suspended from his presidential powers following his impeachment by the National Assembly of Korea. The Constitutional Court of Korea is in the process of determining whether he is permanently removed or restored to office.
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.
Choo Kyung-ho is a South Korean government official and politician. He was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance under the Yoon Suk Yeol government. He has been serving as the Member of the National Assembly for Dalseong since 2016.
Han Dong-hoon is a South Korean politician and prosecutor who served as the 69th Minister of Justice from May 2022 to December 2023 under the cabinet of Yoon Suk Yeol. He was a leader of People Power Party from July to December 2024. Before joining politics, Han played a key role as an anti-corruption prosecutor alongside Yoon Suk Yeol in convicting former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, Samsung executive Lee Jae-yong, and family members of former minister of justice Cho Kuk. Han served as a principal deputy when Yoon held senior positions in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of Korea.
Choi Sang-mok is a South Korean politician who has served as acting president and acting prime minister of South Korea since 27 December 2024 and as the deputy prime minister and minister of Economy and Finance since December 2023.
The next South Korean presidential election was originally scheduled for 2027. However, following the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol on 14 December 2024, an early election in 2025 is likely. According to the South Korean constitution, if President Yoon Suk Yeol resigns or is removed from office by the Constitutional Court, a snap presidential election must be held within 60 days.
On 3 December 2024, at 22:27 Korea Standard Time (KST), Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, declared martial law during a televised address. In his declaration, Yoon accused the Democratic Party (DPK), which has a majority in the National Assembly, of conducting "anti-state activities" and collaborating with "North Korean communists" to destroy the country, thereby creating a "legislative dictatorship". The order prohibited political activities, including gatherings of the National Assembly and local legislatures, and suspended the free press. Separately, Yoon reportedly ordered the arrest of various political opponents, including the leaders of the DPK and his own People Power Party (PPP). This event was widely characterized by Korean politicians and news organizations, both international and domestic, as an attempted self-coup.
On 14 December 2024, Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, was impeached by the National Assembly. This action came in response to Yoon's declaration of martial law on 3 December 2024, which was overturned by the National Assembly and officially withdrawn six hours later on 4 December 2024.
On 27 December 2024, South Korean prime minister and acting president Han Duck-soo was impeached. The efforts came 10 days after president Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached as a result of his brief enactment of martial law earlier that month, leading Han to become acting president on his stead. Opposition Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae announced plans to impeach Han on 24 December after he declined to approve two bills providing a special counsel for Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee. The motion was formally filed on 26 December after Han blocked the appointment of three justices to the Constitutional Court of Korea whose nomination was approved by the National Assembly. After Speaker Woo Won-shik ruled that Han could be impeached by a simple majority due to his status as a cabinet minister, Han was unanimously impeached by 192 MPs on 27 December with all 108 other MPs, part of Yoon's People Power Party (PPP), boycotting the vote. Deputy prime minister and finance minister Choi Sang-mok assumed the roles of acting president and acting prime minister pending the Constitutional Court's decision on whether to remove Han from office.
Jeong Hyeong-sik, also romanized as Cheong Hyungsik, is a South Korean jurist who serves as a justice of the Constitutional Court of South Korea. He was nominated by President Yoon Suk Yeol on November 16, 2023, and officially appointed to the court on December 18, 2023.
