List of prime ministers of South Korea Facts for Kids

To avoid confusion, all the names on this list follow the Eastern order convention (family name first, given name second) for consistency.

Standard and emblem of the prime minister of the Republic of Korea

This article shares a list of the people who have served as the Prime Minister of South Korea. This important role started when South Korea was founded in 1948. We will look at all the Prime Ministers from the very first government, called the First Republic, all the way to today's government, the Sixth Republic.

The Prime Minister is a very important leader in South Korea. They are usually the second most powerful person in the government, right after the President. They help the President manage the country and make sure the government runs smoothly.

Who are the Prime Ministers of South Korea?

This section lists all the Prime Ministers of South Korea. You will see their names, when they were in office, and which President they worked with. Sometimes, a person might be an acting Prime Minister. This means they are temporarily doing the job until a new Prime Minister is officially chosen.

Political parties
Conservative Liberal Military Independent
Status
Denotes acting prime minister

No.	Picture	Name (Born–Died)	Time in office			Political party	President
No.	Picture	Name (Born–Died)	Started work	Left work	Total time	Political party	President
Prime Ministers of the First Republic (1948–1960)
1		Lee Beom-seok (1900–1972)	31 July 1948	20 April 1950	1 year, 263 days	Independent	Rhee Syng-man
—		Shin Song-mo (1891–1960) Acting	21 April 1950	22 November 1950	215 days	Independent
2		Chang Myon (1899–1966)	23 November 1950	23 April 1952	1 year, 152 days	Liberal
—		Yi Yun-yong (1890–1975) Acting	24 April 1952	5 May 1952	11 days	Independent
3		Chang Taek-sang (1893–1969)	6 May 1952	5 October 1952	152 days	Independent
4		Paik Too-chin (1908–1993)	9 October 1952	17 June 1954	1 year, 251 days	Independent
5		Pyon Yong-tae (1892–1969)	27 June 1954	28 November 1954	154 days	Independent
The Prime Minister position was removed for a while (28 November 1954 – 15 June 1960)
Prime Ministers of the Second Republic (1960–1963)
6		Ho Chong (1896–1988)	15 June 1960	18 August 1960	64 days	Independent	Yun Posun
7 (2)		Chang Myon (1899–1966)	19 August 1960	17 May 1961	271 days	Democratic	Yun Posun
Chief Cabinet Ministers during the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction (1961–1963)
—		Jang Do-young (1923–2012)	20 May 1961	2 July 1961	43 days	Military	Yun Posun
—		Song Yo-chan (1918–1980)	3 July 1961	15 June 1962	347 days	Military	Yun Posun
—		Park Chung Hee (1917–1979)	18 June 1962	9 July 1962	21 days	Military	Park Chung Hee (acting)
—		Kim Hyun-chul (1901–1989)	10 July 1962	16 December 1963	1 year, 159 days	Independent	Park Chung Hee (acting)
Prime Ministers of the Third Republic (1963–1972)
8		Choi Tu-son (1894–1974)	17 December 1963	9 May 1964	144 days	Independent	Park Chung Hee
9		Chung Il-kwon (1917–1994)	10 May 1964	20 December 1970	6 years, 224 days	Independent
10 (4)		Paik Too-chin (1908–1993)	21 December 1970	3 June 1971	164 days	Democratic Republican
11		Kim Jong-pil (1926–2018)	4 June 1971	20 November 1972	1 year, 169 days	Democratic Republican
Prime Ministers of the Fourth Republic (1972–1981)
11 (cont'd.)		Kim Jong-pil (1926–2018)	21 November 1972	18 December 1975	3 years, 27 days	Democratic Republican	Park Chung-hee
12		Choi Kyu-hah (1919–2006)	19 December 1975	5 December 1979	3 years, 351 days	Independent	Park Chung-hee
13		Shin Hyun-hwak (1920–2007)	13 December 1979	21 May 1980	160 days	Democratic Republican	Choi Kyu-hah
—		Park Choong-hoon (1919–2001) Acting	22 May 1980	1 September 1980	102 days	Democratic Republican	Choi Kyu-hah
14		Nam Duck-woo (1924–2013)	2 September 1980	2 March 1981	181 days	Independent	Chun Doo-hwan
Prime Ministers of the Fifth Republic (1981–1988)
14 (cont'd.)		Nam Duck-woo (1924–2013)	3 March 1981	3 January 1982	306 days	Independent	Chun Doo-hwan
15		Yoo Chang-soon (1918–2010)	4 January 1982	24 June 1982	171 days	Independent
16		Kim Sang-hyup (1920–1995)	25 June 1982	14 October 1983	1 year, 111 days	Independent
17		Chin Iee-chong (1921–1995)	15 October 1983	18 February 1985	1 year, 126 days	Democratic Justice
—		Shin Byung-hyun [ko] (1921–1999) Acting	11 November 1984	18 February 1985	99 days	Democratic Justice
18		Lho Shin-yong (1930–2019)	19 February 1985	25 May 1987	2 years, 95 days	Democratic Justice
—		Lee Han-key [ko] (1917–1995) Acting	26 May 1987	13 July 1987	48 days	Independent
19		Kim Chung-yul (1917–1992)	14 July 1987	24 February 1988	225 days	Independent
Prime Ministers of the Sixth Republic (1988–present)
20		Lee Hyun-jae (born 1929)	25 February 1988	4 December 1988	283 days	Independent	Roh Tae-woo
21		Kang Young-hoon (1922–2016)	5 December 1988	26 December 1990	2 years, 21 days	Democratic Justice → Democratic Liberal
22		Ro Jai-bong (1936–2024)	27 December 1990	23 May 1991	147 days	Democratic Liberal
23		Chung Won-shik (1928–2020)	24 May 1991	7 October 1992	1 year, 136 days	Independent
24		Hyun Soong-jong (1919–2020)	8 October 1992	24 February 1993	139 days	Independent
25		Hwang In-sung (1926–2010)	25 February 1993	16 December 1993	294 days	Democratic Liberal	Kim Young-sam
26		Lee Hoi-chang (born 1935)	17 December 1993	21 April 1994	125 days	Independent
27		Lee Yung-dug (1926–2010)	22 April 1994	16 December 1994	238 days	Independent
28		Lee Hong-koo (born 1934)	17 December 1994	17 December 1995	1 year, 0 days	Independent
29		Lee Soo-sung (born 1939)	18 December 1995	4 March 1997	1 year, 76 days	New Korea
30		Goh Kun (born 1938)	5 March 1997	2 March 1998	362 days	New Korea → Grand National
31 (11)		Kim Jong-pil (1926–2018)	3 March 1998	12 January 2000	1 year, 315 days	United Liberal Democrats	Kim Dae-jung
32		Park Tae-joon (1927–2011)	13 January 2000	18 May 2000	126 days	United Liberal Democrats
—		Lee Hun-jai (born 1944) Acting	19 May 2000	22 May 2000	3 days	Independent
33		Lee Han-dong (1934–2021)	23 May 2000	10 July 2002	2 years, 48 days	United Liberal Democrats
—		Chang Sang (born 1939) Acting	11 July 2002	31 July 2002	20 days	Independent
—		Jeon Yun-churl [ko] (born 1939) Acting	31 July 2002	9 August 2002	9 days	Independent
—		Chang Dae-whan (born 1952) Acting	9 August 2002	10 September 2002	32 days	Independent
34		Kim Suk-soo (born 1932)	10 September 2002	26 February 2003	169 days	Independent
35 (30)		Goh Kun (born 1938)	27 February 2003	24 July 2004	1 year, 148 days	Independent	Roh Moo-hyun
—		Lee Hun-jai (born 1944) Acting	25 July 2004	30 July 2004	5 days	Independent
36		Lee Hae-chan (born 1952)	30 July 2004	15 March 2006	1 year, 228 days	Uri
—		Han Duck-soo (born 1949) Acting	16 March 2006	19 April 2006	34 days	Independent
37		Han Myeong-sook (born 1944)	20 April 2006	6 March 2007	320 days	Uri
—		Kwon O-kyu [ko] (born 1952) Acting	7 March 2007	2 April 2007	26 days	Independent
38		Han Duck-soo (born 1949)	2 April 2007	29 February 2008	333 days	Independent
39		Han Seung-soo (born 1936)	29 February 2008	28 September 2009	1 year, 212 days	Grand National	Lee Myung-bak
40		Chung Un-chan (born 1947)	29 September 2009	11 August 2010	316 days	Independent
—		Yoon Jeung-hyun (born 1946) Acting	11 August 2010	1 October 2010	51 days	Grand National
41		Kim Hwang-sik (born 1948)	1 October 2010	26 February 2013	2 years, 148 days	Independent
42		Chung Hong-won (born 1944)	26 February 2013	16 February 2015	1 year, 355 days	Independent	Park Geun-hye
43		Lee Wan-koo (1950–2021)	17 February 2015	27 April 2015	69 days	Saenuri
—		Choi Kyoung-hwan (born 1955) Acting	27 April 2015	18 June 2015	52 days	Saenuri
44		Hwang Kyo-ahn (born 1957)	17 June 2015	11 May 2017	1 year, 328 days	Independent
44		Hwang Kyo-ahn (born 1957)	17 June 2015	11 May 2017	1 year, 328 days	Independent	Hwang Kyo-ahn (acting)
—		Yoo Il-ho (born 1955) Acting	11 May 2017	31 May 2017	20 days	Liberty Korea	Moon Jae-in
45		Lee Nak-yon (born 1951)	31 May 2017	14 January 2020	2 years, 228 days	Democratic
46		Chung Sye-kyun (born 1950)	14 January 2020	16 April 2021	1 year, 92 days	Democratic
—		Hong Nam-ki (born 1960) Acting	16 April 2021	13 May 2021	27 days	Independent
47		Kim Boo-kyum (born 1958)	14 May 2021	11 May 2022	362 days	Democratic
—		Choo Kyung-ho (born 1960) Acting	12 May 2022	20 May 2022	8 days	People Power	Yoon Suk Yeol
48 (38)		Han Duck-soo (born 1949)	21 May 2022	Incumbent	3 years, 38 days	Independent
—		Choi Sang-mok (born 1963) Acting	27 December 2024	24 March 2025	87 days	Independent