List of presidents of South Korea by time in office

Longest presidency	Shortest presidency
Park Chung Hee 5,788 days (1963–1979)	Choi Kyu-hah 254 days (1979–1980)

This is a list of presidents of South Korea by time in office. The basis of the list is the difference between dates; if counted by number of calendar days all the figures would be one greater.

Of the elected individuals, three resigned from office (Rhee Syng-man, Yun Po-sun, and Choi Kyu-hah,) one was assassinated (Park Chung Hee,) and two were impeached and removed (Yoon Suk Yeol and Park Geun-hye.)

Choi Kyu-hah spent the shortest time as president, while Park Chung Hee spent the longest. Park is the only president to have served more than three terms in office. Following the ratification of the Presidential Election Act of 1987, presidents—starting with Roh Tae-woo, have been limited to a single five-year term. Chun Doo-hwan, the incumbent in 1987, was blocked from serving a third term, which had he been re-elected, would last from 1988–1995.

While there have been 14 total presidents of South Korea, 21 terms have been served; Rhee, Park, and Chun Doo-hwan have served multiple terms.

Rank by time in office

Key:

  Dead

  Living

  Incumbent

Rank	President	Length of term	Order of presidency	Notes
1	Park Chung Hee	15 years, 313 days	3rd • 3 December 1963 – 26 October 1979	Served 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th terms, died in office
2	Rhee Syng-man	11 years, 278 days	1st • 24 July 1948 – 27 April 1960	Served 1st, 2nd, and 3rd terms, resigned
3	Chun Doo-hwan	7 years, 177 days	5th • 1 September 1980 – 25 February 1988	Served 11th and 12th terms
4	Roh Tae-woo	4 years, 365 days [1]	6th • 25 February 1988 – 25 February 1993	Served 13th term
	Lee Myung-bak	4 years, 365 days [1]	10th • 25 February 2008 – 25 February 2013	Served 17th term
6 tie	Kim Young-sam	5 years, 0 days	7th • 25 February 1993 – 25 February 1998	Served 14th term
	Kim Dae-jung	5 years, 0 days	8th • 25 February 1998 – 25 February 2003	Served 15th term
	Roh Moo-hyun	5 years, 0 days [2]	9th • 25 February 2003 – 25 February 2008	Served 16th term
	Moon Jae-in	5 years, 0 days	12th • 10 May 2017 – 10 May 2022	Served 19th term
10	Park Geun-hye	4 years, 13 days [3]	11th • 25 February 2013 – 10 March 2017	Served 18th term, impeached and removed from office
11	Yoon Suk Yeol	2 years, 329 days [4]	13th • 10 May 2022 – 4 April 2025	Served 20th term, impeached and removed from office
12	Yun Bo-seon	1 year, 223 days	2nd • 13 August 1960 – 24 March 1962	Served 4th term, resigned
13	Choi Kyu-hah	254 days	4th • 6 December 1979 – 16 August 1980	Served 10th term, resigned
14	Lee Jae-myung [a]	58 days	14th • 4 June 2025 – present	Serving 21st term

See also

• List of presidents of South Korea

Notes

1. As of August 1, 2025

Notes

1. Roh and Lee served one day longer than other one-term presidents because they each served during two leap years while other one-term presidents served during only one leap year. This is also why their services of 4 years, 365 days did not equal 5 years
2. Suspended 12 March 2004 – 14 May 2004, Acting President: Goh Kun
3. Suspended 9 December 2016 – 10 March 2017, Acting President: Hwang Kyo-ahn
4. Suspended 14 December 2024 – 4 April 2025, Acting Presidents: Han Duck-soo (14 – 27 December 2024; since 24 March 2025), Choi Sang-mok (27 December 2024 – 24 March 2025)