List of presidents of South Korea facts for kids

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

• Top left: Rhee Syng-man became the first president of the Republic of Korea in 1948.
• Top right: Park Chung Hee was the longest-serving president, taking power during the 1961 coup d'etat, sometimes named the Tiger of Yushin Constitution in the 1970s.
• Bottom left: Kim Dae-jung was elected during the 1997 presidential election. This was the first peaceful transfer of power in South Korean history.
• Bottom right: Park Geun-hye, the first female president of South Korea, 2013–2017

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.

The presidential term has been set at five years since 1988. It was previously set at four years from 1948 to 1972, six years from 1972 to 1981, and seven years from 1981 to 1988. Since 1981, the president has been barred from 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 incumbent president is Yoon Suk Yeol, who assumed office on 10 May 2022.

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	Independent	—
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 [ko] 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, 0 days	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, 0 days	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, 0 days	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, 0 days	National Congress Millennium Democratic Independent	15th (1997)
9		Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 盧武鉉 (1946–2009)	25 February 2003	24 February 2008	5 years, 0 days	Millennium Democratic Independent Uri Independent	16th (2002)
10		Lee Myung-bak 이명박 李明博 (born 1941)	25 February 2008	24 February 2013	5 years, 0 days	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, 0 days	Democratic	19th (2017)
13		Yoon Suk Yeol 윤석열 尹錫悅 (born 1960)	10 May 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 196 days	People Power	20th (2022)

Timeline

Timeline of South Korean governments

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Presidentes de Corea del Sur para niños

• 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