List of presidents of South Korea facts for kids

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

The president of the Republic of Korea serves as the chief executive of the government of the Republic of Korea and the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

The South Korean government constitutionally considers the Korean Provisional Government (KPG) to be its predecessor. The KPG was established in 1919 as a government in exile in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation of Korea. It had nine different heads of state between September 1919 and August 1948.

Under the 1988 Constitution of the Sixth Republic of Korea, the presidential term is set at five years with no re-election. The president must be a South Korean citizen, at least 40 years old, who has lived in South Korea for 5 years. The term was previously set at four years during the First Republic from 1948 to 1960, including a two-term limit that was repealed in 1954. The presidency was changed into a ceremonial role elected by legislators to five-year terms during the Second Republic from 1960 to 1963. The Third Republic returned the presidency to a directly-elected position with a four-year term in 1963 and repealed the two-term limit in 1969. Under the Yushin Constitution of the Fourth Republic adopted in 1972, the presidency became an indirectly elected position with six-year terms and no limits to re-election. It was replaced with a seven-year term under the Fifth Republic in 1981, which retained the indirect elections but prohibited a second term.

As of 2024^[update], thirteen people have served in full capacity as president of South Korea since the office was formally established on 24 July 1948, when Syngman Rhee took office after being elected by the Constituent National Assembly. The longest-serving president is Park Chung Hee, who held the office for 18 years from a 1961 coup until his assassination in 1979 following a period of authoritarian rule. The first and only woman to hold the presidency was his daughter Park Geun-hye, who was elected in 2012 and removed from office in 2017 after her impeachment was upheld by the Constitutional Court of Korea. Yoon Suk Yeol assumed office on 10 May 2022 and was impeached by the National Assembly on 14 December 2024. His powers will remain suspended until a Constitutional Court decision upholds or rejects the impeachment; until then, the prime minister served as acting president. The prime minister, Han Duck-soo, was himself impeached from the acting presidency on 27 December 2024 and replaced by deputy prime minister Choi Sang-mok, who became acting president.

List of presidents

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Election
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
Presidents of the First Republic
1		Syngman Rhee 이승만 李承晩 (1875–1965)	24 July 1948	26 April 1960	11 years, 277 days	NARRKI Liberal	1st (1948) 2nd (1952) 3rd (1956) March 1960
—		Ho Chong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) Acting	27 April 1960	15 June 1960	50 days	Independent	—
Presidents of the Second Republic
—		Kwak Sang-hoon 곽상훈 郭尙勳 (1896–1980) Acting	16 June 1960	23 June 1960	7 days	Democratic	—
—		Ho Chong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) Acting	23 June 1960	7 August 1960	46 days	Independent	—
—		Baek Nak-jun 백낙준 白樂濬 (1895–1985) Acting	8 August 1960	12 August 1960	5 days		—
2		Yun Po-sun 윤보선 尹潽善 (1897–1990)	13 August 1960	24 March 1962	1 year, 224 days	Democratic New Democratic	4th (August 1960)
—		General Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979) Chairman of the SCNR	24 March 1962	16 December 1963	1 year, 268 days	Military	—
President of the Third Republic
3		Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979)	17 December 1963	26 December 1972	9 years, 10 days	Democratic Republican	5th (1963) 6th (1967) 7th (1971)
Presidents of the Fourth Republic
(3)		Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979)	27 December 1972	26 October 1979	6 years, 304 days	Democratic Republican	8th (1972) 9th (1978)
—		Choi Kyu-hah 최규하 崔圭夏 (1919–2006)	26 October 1979	6 December 1979	42 days	Independent	—
4			6 December 1979	16 August 1980	255 days		10th (1979)
—		Park Choong-hoon 박충훈 朴忠勳 (1919–2001) Acting	16 August 1980	31 August 1980	15 days	Democratic Republican	—
5		Chun Doo-hwan 전두환 全斗煥 (1931–2021)	1 September 1980	24 February 1981	177 days	Military	11th (1980)
President of the Fifth Republic
(5)		Chun Doo-hwan 전두환 全斗煥 (1931–2021)	25 February 1981	24 February 1988	7 years	Democratic Justice	12th (1981)
Presidents of the Sixth Republic
6		Roh Tae-woo 노태우 盧泰愚 (1932–2021)	25 February 1988	24 February 1993	5 years	Democratic Justice Democratic Liberal Independent	13th (1987)
7		Kim Young-sam 김영삼 金泳三 (1927–2015)	25 February 1993	24 February 1998	5 years	Democratic Liberal New Korea Independent	14th (1992)
8		Kim Dae-jung 김대중 金大中 (1924–2009)	25 February 1998	24 February 2003	5 years	National Congress Millennium Democratic Independent	15th (1997)
9		Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 盧武鉉 (1946–2009)	25 February 2003	12 March 2004	1 year, 17 days	Millennium Democratic Independent	16th (2002)
—		Goh Kun 고건 高建 (born 1938) Acting	12 March 2004	14 May 2004	64 days	Independent	—
(9)		Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 盧武鉉 (1946–2009)	14 May 2004	24 February 2008	3 years, 287 days	Uri Independent	-
10		Lee Myung-bak 이명박 李明博 (born 1941)	25 February 2008	24 February 2013	5 years	Grand National Saenuri	17th (2007)
11		Park Geun-hye 박근혜 朴槿惠 (born 1952)	25 February 2013	10 March 2017	4 years, 14 days	Saenuri Liberty Korea	18th (2012)
—		Hwang Kyo-ahn 황교안 黃敎安 (born 1957) Acting	9 December 2016	9 May 2017	152 days	Independent	—
12		Moon Jae-in 문재인 文在寅 (born 1953)	10 May 2017	9 May 2022	5 years	Democratic	19th (2017)
13		Yoon Suk Yeol 윤석열 尹錫悅 (born 1960)	10 May 2022	Incumbent (powers and duties suspended since 14 December 2024)	2 years, 268 days	People Power	20th (2022)
—		Han Duck-soo 한덕수 韓悳洙 (born 1949) Acting	14 December 2024	27 December 2024	14 days	Independent	—
—		Choi Sang-mok 최상목 崔相穆 (born 1963) Acting	27 December 2024	Incumbent	37 days	Independent	—

Timeline

Timeline of South Korean governments

See also

• Government of South Korea
• Lifespan timeline of presidents of South Korea
• List of monarchs of Korea
• List of presidents of South Korea by time in office
• List of presidents of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
• List of prime ministers of South Korea
• Presidential elections in South Korea
• Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
• Vice President of South Korea