Lee Hoi-chang facts for kids

Quick facts for kids His Excellency The Right Honourable Lee Hoi-chang
이회창
Prime Minister of South Korea
In office 17 December 1993 – 21 April 1994
President	Kim Young-sam
Preceded by	Hwang In-sung
Succeeded by	Lee Yung-dug
Member of the National Assembly
In office 30 May 2008 – 29 May 2012
Preceded by	Hong Moon-pyo
Succeeded by	Hong Moon-pyo
Constituency	Hongseong–Yesan
In office 30 May 2000 – 10 December 2002
Constituency	Proportional representation
In office 4 June 1999 – 29 May 2000
Preceded by	Hong Jun-pyo
Succeeded by	Maeng Hyung-gyu
Constituency	Seoul Songpa A
Leader of the Liberty Forward Party
In office 1 February 2008 – 9 May 2011
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Byun Woong-jeon
President of the Grand National Party
In office 30 August 1998 – 1 April 2002
Preceded by	Cho Soon
Succeeded by	Park Kwan-yong (acting)
President of the New Korea Party
In office 30 September 1997 – 21 November 1997
Preceded by	Kim Young-sam
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1935-06-02) 2 June 1935 (age 90) Sohung County, Kōkai-dō (Hwanghae Province), Korea, Empire of Japan (now North Korea)
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	New Korea (1996–1997) Grand National (1997–2007) Independent (2007–2008) Liberty Forward (2008–2012) Saenuri (2012–2017)
Spouse	Han In-ok
Children	2 sons
Alma mater	Seoul National University
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature
Korean name
Hangul	이회창
Hanja	李會昌
Revised Romanization	I Hoe-chang
McCune–Reischauer	Yi Hoech'ang
Art name
Hangul	경사
Hanja	俓史
Revised Romanization	Gyeongsa
McCune–Reischauer	Kyŏngsa

Lee Hoi-chang (born June 2, 1935) is a well-known South Korean politician and lawyer. He served as the prime minister of South Korea from 1993 to 1994. He also ran for president three times. Before his presidential campaigns, Lee was a Supreme Court Justice.

Early Life and Education

Lee Hoi-chang was born into an important family in Seoheung, which is now part of North Korea. However, he grew up in South Korea because his father, a public prosecutor, moved for a new job.

Lee studied law at Seoul National University. After finishing his studies, he worked as a judge for 20 years, from 1960 to 1980. At 46 years old, he became the youngest person ever to be a Supreme Court Justice in South Korea.

Journey into Politics

In 1988, Lee was chosen to be the head of the National Election Commission. This group makes sure elections are fair.

Later, in 1993, he was picked by President Kim Young-sam to lead the Board of Audit and Inspection. This board checks how the government spends money and fights against corruption. Lee was very strict about stopping corruption. People even gave him the nickname "Bamboo" because bamboo is known for being strong and upright in Korea.

Becoming Prime Minister

In the same year, 1993, Lee Hoi-chang was appointed prime minister. This is a very important role in the government. However, he resigned in 1994. He left because he felt that the prime minister's office wasn't involved enough in making big decisions, especially about North Korea.

Presidential Campaigns

In 1996, Lee helped lead the campaign for the New Korea Party. This party later joined with another to become the Grand National Party (GNP) in 1997. Lee was then chosen to be the party's candidate for president in the election that year.

At first, many people thought Lee would win the election. But his popularity dropped when some news came out about his sons. There were concerns that his two sons had been excused from mandatory military service because they were reported as underweight. Lee eventually lost the election to Kim Dae-jung during a difficult time for the economy, known as the Asian economic crisis.

Running for President Again

Lee ran for president a second time in 2002. He was running against Roh Moo-hyun. Even though there were some problems with the government at the time, Lee's campaign faced challenges. Public opinion was affected by events that led to strong feelings against the U.S. Lee was seen by many as being supportive of the U.S. government. After losing the election by a small amount in December 2002, Lee said he would retire from politics.

However, on November 7, 2007, Lee announced he would run for president a third time. He ran as an independent candidate, meaning he wasn't officially part of a major party. He joined the race late, about two months before the election. Lee had conservative views and criticized giving foreign aid to North Korea. He believed such aid was too expensive and not right while North Korea was developing nuclear weapons. Some people worried that his running would split the votes among conservative candidates. But Lee Myung-bak won the election, and Lee Hoi-chang came in third place.

After his 2007 election campaign, Lee founded a new political party called the Liberty Forward Party.

Key Political Ideas

Lee Hoi-chang is known for his strong conservative views in South Korean politics. He believes in stopping communism and supports a free market economy. He also has a firm stance against North Korea.

Lee often disagreed with the "Sunshine Policy" of engaging with North Korea. He argued that foreign aid should stop until North Korea got rid of its nuclear weapons program. Lee also called for strict rules against illegal strikes by workers. He also supported appointing more women to government jobs.