List of presidents of South Korea Facts for Kids

To make it easier to understand, the names on this list follow the Korean way of writing names: the family name comes first, then the given name.

Presidential standard and seal of the president of the Republic of Korea

Top left: Syngman Rhee, first president
Top right: Park Chung Hee
Bottom left: Roh Tae-woo
Bottom right: Lee Jae Myung, current president.

The President of South Korea is the main leader of the government. They are also the head of the military.

South Korea's government sees the Korean Provisional Government (KPG) as its early beginning. The KPG was formed in 1919 in Shanghai. This happened when Korea was under Japanese rule. The KPG had nine different leaders from 1919 to 1948.

Today, under the 1988 Constitution, a president serves for five years. They cannot be elected again. To be president, a person must be a South Korean citizen. They must also be at least 40 years old. They need to have lived in South Korea for five years.

Over time, the rules for presidents have changed. In the past, terms were four years. Sometimes, presidents could serve more than one term. Later, the rules changed to six or seven-year terms. Now, it is a single five-year term.

As of 2025^[update], fourteen people have been president of South Korea. The first was Syngman Rhee. He took office on July 24, 1948. He was chosen by the National Assembly.

The president who served the longest was Park Chung Hee. He was president for 18 years. His time in office began in 1961. It ended in 1979. His daughter, Park Geun-hye, was the first and only woman president. She was elected in 2012. Her term ended early in 2017 after a special court decision.

Lee Jae Myung became president on June 4, 2025. This happened after his predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, left office early. Mr. Yoon's duties were paused in December 2024. A court confirmed his term had ended in April 2025. Mr. Lee was then elected in the 2025 presidential election.

Understanding the President's Role

Political Parties
Conservative (like the current People Power Party) Liberal (like the current Democratic Party) Military Independent (not part of a major party)
Status
Means an acting president (filling in temporarily)

No.	Picture	Name (Born–Died)	Time in Office			Political Party	Election
No.	Picture	Name (Born–Died)	Started	Ended	How Long	Political Party	Election
Leaders during the US Military Government
1	Portrait of Syngman Rhee	Syngman Rhee 이승만 李承晩 (1875–1965)	24 July 1948	15 August 1948	22 days	NARRKI	1st (1948)
Presidents of the First Republic
(1)	Portrait of Syngman Rhee	Syngman Rhee 이승만 李承晩 (1875–1965)	15 August 1948	27 April 1960	11 years, 256 days	NARRKI Liberal	2nd (1952) 3rd (1956) March 1960
—	Portrait of Ho Chong	Ho Chong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) Acting	27 April 1960	15 June 1960	49 days	Independent	—
Presidents of the Second Republic
—	Portrait of Ho Chong	Ho Chong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) Acting	15 June 1960	15 June 1960	0 days	Independent	—
—	Portrait of Kwak Sang-hoon	Kwak Sang-hoon 곽상훈 郭尙勳 (1896–1980) Acting	16 June 1960	23 June 1960	7 days	Democratic	—
—	Portrait of Ho Chong	Ho Chong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) Acting	23 June 1960	7 August 1960	45 days	Independent	—
—	Portrait of Baek Nak-jun	Baek Nak-jun 백낙준 白樂濬 (1895–1985) Acting	8 August 1960	12 August 1960	4 days	Independent	—
2	Portrait of Yun Po-sun	Yun Po-sun 윤보선 尹潽善 (1897–1990)	13 August 1960	16 May 1961	276 days	Democratic	4th (August 1960)
Presidents under the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction (SCNR)
(2)	Portrait of Yun Po-sun	Yun Po-sun 윤보선 尹潽善 (1897–1990)	16 May 1961	24 March 1962	312 days	Democratic New Democratic	—
—	Portrait of General Park Chung Hee	General Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979) Acting	24 March 1962	17 December 1963	1 year, 268 days	Military Democratic Republican	—
President of the Third Republic
3	Portrait of Park Chung Hee	Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979)	17 December 1963	21 November 1972	8 years, 340 days	Democratic Republican	5th (1963) 6th (1967) 7th (1971)
Presidents of the Fourth Republic
(3)	Portrait of Park Chung Hee	Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979)	21 November 1972	26 October 1979	6 years, 339 days	Democratic Republican	8th (1972) 9th (1978)
—	Portrait of Choi Kyu-hah	Choi Kyu-hah 최규하 崔圭夏 (1919–2006)	26 October 1979	6 December 1979	41 days	Independent	—
4	Portrait of Choi Kyu-hah	Choi Kyu-hah 최규하 崔圭夏 (1919–2006)	6 December 1979	16 August 1980	254 days	Independent	10th (1979)
—		Park Choong-hoon 박충훈 朴忠勳 (1919–2001) Acting	16 August 1980	1 September 1980	16 days	Democratic Republican	—
5	Portrait of Chun Doo-hwan	Chun Doo-hwan 전두환 全斗煥 (1931–2021)	1 September 1980	24 February 1981	176 days	Military (Hanahoe) Democratic Justice (Hanahoe)	11th (1980)
President of the Fifth Republic
(5)	Portrait of Chun Doo-hwan	Chun Doo-hwan 전두환 全斗煥 (1931–2021)	25 February 1981	24 February 1988	6 years, 364 days	Democratic Justice (Hanahoe)	12th (1981)
Presidents of the Sixth Republic
6	Portrait of Roh Tae-woo	Roh Tae-woo 노태우 盧泰愚 (1932–2021)	25 February 1988	24 February 1993	4 years, 365 days	Democratic Justice (Hanahoe) Democratic Liberal (Hanahoe) Independent (Hanahoe)	13th (1987)
7	Portrait of Kim Young-sam	Kim Young-sam 김영삼 金泳三 (1927–2015)	25 February 1993	24 February 1998	4 years, 364 days	Democratic Liberal New Korea Independent	14th (1992)
8	Portrait of Kim Dae-jung	Kim Dae-jung 김대중 金大中 (1924–2009)	25 February 1998	24 February 2003	4 years, 364 days	National Congress Millennium Democratic Independent	15th (1997)
9	Portrait of Roh Moo-hyun	Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 盧武鉉 (1946–2009)	25 February 2003	12 March 2004	1 year, 16 days	Millennium Democratic Independent	16th (2002)
—	Portrait of Goh Kun	Goh Kun 고건 高建 (born 1938) Acting	12 March 2004	14 May 2004	63 days	Millennium Democratic	—
(9)	Portrait of Roh Moo-hyun	Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 盧武鉉 (1946–2009)	14 May 2004	24 February 2008	3 years, 286 days	Uri Independent	—
10	Portrait of Lee Myung-bak	Lee Myung-bak 이명박 李明博 (born 1941)	25 February 2008	24 February 2013	4 years, 365 days	Grand National Saenuri	17th (2007)
11	Portrait of Park Geun-hye	Park Geun-hye 박근혜 朴槿惠 (born 1952)	25 February 2013	10 March 2017	4 years, 13 days	Saenuri Liberty Korea	18th (2012)
—	Portrait of Hwang Kyo-ahn	Hwang Kyo-ahn 황교안 黃敎安 (born 1957) Acting	9 December 2016	9 May 2017	151 days	Independent	—
12	Portrait of Moon Jae-in	Moon Jae-in 문재인 文在寅 (born 1953)	10 May 2017	9 May 2022	4 years, 364 days	Democratic	19th (2017)
13	Portrait of Yoon Suk Yeol	Yoon Suk Yeol 윤석열 尹錫悅 (born 1960)	10 May 2022	4 April 2025	2 years, 329 days	People Power	20th (2022)
—	Portrait of Han Duck-soo	Han Duck-soo 한덕수 韓悳洙 (born 1949) Acting	14 December 2024	27 December 2024	13 days	Independent	—
—	Portrait of Choi Sang-mok	Choi Sang-mok 최상목 崔相穆 (born 1963) Acting	27 December 2024	24 March 2025	87 days	Independent	—
—	Portrait of Han Duck-soo	Han Duck-soo 한덕수 韓悳洙 (born 1949) Acting	24 March 2025	1 May 2025	38 days	Independent	—
—	Portrait of Lee Ju-ho	Lee Ju-ho 이주호 李周浩 (born 1961) Acting	2 May 2025	3 June 2025	32 days	Independent	—
14	Portrait of Lee Jae Myung	Lee Jae Myung 이재명 李在明 (born 1963)	4 June 2025	Incumbent	38 days	Democratic	21st (2025)

Timeline of Leaders

Main Political Idea		How Many	Total Time in Office	Names of Presidents
	Conservative	9	21765 days	Choi Kyu-hah, Chun Doo-hwan, Kim Young-sam, Lee Myung-bak, Park Chung Hee, Park Geun-hye, Roh Tae-woo, Syngman Rhee, and Yoon Suk Yeol
	Liberal	5	Expression error: Unexpected < operator. days	Kim Dae-jung, Moon Jae-in, Roh Moo-hyun, Yun Po-sun, and Lee Jae Myung

Timeline of South Korean governments

List of presidents of South Korea facts for kids

Understanding the President's Role

Timeline of Leaders

See also