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.
Key:
Rank | No. | President | Assumed office | Left office | Length of term | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3rd | Park Chung Hee | 24 March 1962 | 26 October 1979 | 17 years, 216 days | Served 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th terms, died in office |
2 | 1st | Rhee Syng-man | 24 July 1948 | 26 April 1960 | 11 years, 277 days | Served 1st, 2nd, and 3rd terms, resigned |
3 | 5th | Chun Doo-hwan | 1 September 1980 | 24 February 1988 | 7 years, 176 days | Served 11th and 12th terms |
4 | 6th | Roh Tae-woo | 5 February 1988 | 24 February 1993 | 4 years, 365 days [1] | Served 13th term |
10th | Lee Myung-bak | 25 February 2008 | 24 February 2013 | 4 years, 365 days [1] | Served 17th term | |
6 | 7th | Kim Young-sam | 25 February 1993 | 24 February 1998 | 4 years, 364 days | Served 14th term |
8th | Kim Dae-jung | 25 February 1998 | 24 February 2003 | 4 years, 364 days | Served 15th term | |
9th | Roh Moo-hyun | 25 February 2003 | 24 February 2008 | 4 years, 364 days [2] | Served 16th term | |
12th | Moon Jae-in | 10 May 2017 | 9 May 2022 | 4 years, 364 days | Served 19th term | |
10 | 11th | Park Geun-hye | 25 February 2013 | 10 March 2017 | 4 years, 13 days [3] | Served 18th term, impeached and removed from office |
11 | 13th | Yoon Suk Yeol | 10 May 2022 | Incumbent | 2 years, 241 days [4] | Serving 20th term, currently being impeached |
12 | 2nd | Yun Bo-seon | 13 August 1960 | 24 March 1962 | 1 year, 223 days | Served 4th term, resigned |
13 | 4th | Choi Kyu-hah | 26 October 1979 | 16 August 1980 | 295 days | Served 10th term, resigned |
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 president of Georgia is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia as well as the commander-in-chief of the Defence Forces. The constitution defines the presidential office as "the guarantor of the country's unity and national independence."
Goh Kun is a South Korean politician who served as the prime minister of South Korea from 1997 to 1998 and again from 2003 to 2004. He was also the acting president of South Korea at the time of Roh Moo-hyun's suspension in 2004 and a former mayor of Seoul.
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:
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 presidential and 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.
Han Sun-hwa, also known mononymously as Sunhwa, is a South Korean actress and singer. She is a former member of the South Korean girl group Secret. She made her television debut in 2004 while participating in SBS' Superstar Survival as a finalist, and in 2009, she was a regular cast on a variety show called Invincible Youth. Aside from music, she also ventured into acting and made her debut in the 2010 drama, More Charming By The Day. She also acted in several dramas with supporting roles in Ad Genius Lee Tae-baek (2013), God's Gift: 14 Days (2014), and Marriage, Not Dating (2014).
Kim Sung-min was a South Korean actor.
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.
The 2016 South Korean political scandal, often called Park Geun-hye–Choi Soon-sil Gate in South Korea, was a scandal that emerged around October 2016 in relation to the unusual access that Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of shaman-esque cult leader Choi Tae-min, had to President Park Geun-hye of South Korea.
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.
Choi Sang-mok is a South Korean politician who has served as the acting president and acting prime minister of South Korea since 27 December 2024 following the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol and Han Duck-soo. He has also served as the deputy prime minister and minister of Economy and Finance since December 2023.
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 in his stead.