List of presidents of South Korea

Since the establishment of the Government of the Republic of Korea, commonly known as South Korea, in 1948, twelve people have served nineteen terms as president of South Korea. Under the Constitution of South Korea, the president is the country's head of state as well as its head of government. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.

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

Presidential Standard and Seal of the President of South 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.
• Bottom left: Roh Tae-woo was the first president of the Sixth Republic, which was created by the democratization of South Korea in 1987.
• Bottom right: Moon Jae-in, the incumbent officeholder, has held office since 2017.

Prior to the establishment of the First Republic in 1948, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea established in Shanghai in September 1919 as the continuation of several governments proclaimed in the aftermath of March 1st Movement earlier that year coordinated Korean people's resistance against Japan during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The legitimacy of the Provisional Government has been recognised and succeeded by South Korea in the latter's original Constitution of 1948 and the current Constitution of 1988. Nine people have served twenty-four terms as Heads of State (with varying titles) of the Provisional Government 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 reelection. The president must be a South Korean citizen, at least 40 years old, who has lived in South Korea for 5 years.

List of presidents

Political parties
Conservative (Current United Future Party)   Liberal (Current Democratic Party of Korea)   Military   Independent
Status
Denotes acting president

Presidents of the First Republic
№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Duration	Political party	Term (Election)
1		Lee Seung-man 이승만 李承晩 (1875–1965)	24 July 1948	27 April 1960	11 years, 278 days	NARRKI → Liberal	1 (1948)
							2 (1952)
							3 (1956)
							4 (Mar. 1960)[n 1]
—		Heo Jeong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) (acting)[n 2]	27 April 1960	15 June 1960	49 days	Independent	Acting
Presidents of the Second Republic
№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Duration	Political party	Term (Election)
—		Gwak Sang-hun 곽상훈 郭尙勳 (1896–1980) (acting)[n 3]	16 June 1960	23 June 1960	7 days	Democratic	Acting
—		Heo Jeong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) (acting)[n 4]	23 June 1960	7 August 1960	45 days	Independent	Acting
—		Paik Nak-chun 백낙준 白樂濬 (1895–1985) (acting)[n 5]	8 August 1960	12 August 1960	4 days	Democratic	Acting
2		Yun Po-sun 윤보선 尹潽善 (1897–1990)	12 August 1960	24 March 1962	1 year, 224 days	Democratic → New Democratic	4 (Aug. 1960)
—		Park Chung-hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979) (acting)[n 6]	24 March 1962	17 December 1963	1 year, 268 days	Military (General)	Acting
President of the Third Republic
№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Duration	Political party	Term (Election)
3		Park Chung-hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979)	17 December 1963	26 December 1972	9 years, 9 days	Democratic Republican	5 (1963)
							6 (1967)
							7 (1971)
Presidents of the Fourth Republic
№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Duration	Political party	Term (Election)
(3)		Park Chung-hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979)	27 December 1972	26 October 1979[n 7]	6 years, 303 days	Democratic Republican	8 (1972)
							9 (1978)
—		Choi Kyu-hah 최규하 崔圭夏 (1919–2006)	26 October 1979	6 December 1979	41 days	Independent	Acting[n 4]
4			6 December 1979	16 August 1980[n 8]	254 days		10 (1979)
—		Park Choong-hoon 박충훈 朴忠勳 (1919–2001) (acting)[n 9]	16 August 1980	1 September 1980	16 days	Independent	Acting
5		Chun Doo-hwan 전두환 全斗煥 (born 1931)	1 September 1980	25 February 1981	177 days	Democratic Justice	11 (1980)
President of the Fifth Republic
№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Duration	Political party	Term (Election)
(5)		Chun Doo-hwan 전두환 全斗煥 (born 1931)	25 February 1981	25 February 1988	7 years, 0 days	Democratic Justice	12 (1981)
Presidents of the Sixth Republic
№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Duration	Political party	Term (Election)
6		Roh Tae-woo 노태우 盧泰愚 (born 1932)	25 February 1988	25 February 1993	5 years, 0 days	Democratic Justice → Democratic Liberal → Independent	13 (1987)
7		Kim Young-sam 김영삼 金泳三 (1927–2015)	25 February 1993	25 February 1998	5 years, 0 days	Democratic Liberal → New Korea → Independent	14 (1992)
8		Kim Dae-jung 김대중 金大中 (1924–2009)	25 February 1998	25 February 2003	5 years, 0 days	National Congress → Millennium Democratic → Independent	15 (1997)
9		Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 盧武鉉 (1946–2009)	25 February 2003[n 10]	25 February 2008	5 years, 0 days	Millennium Democratic → Independent → Uri → Independent	16 (2002)
10		Lee Myung-bak 이명박 李明博 (born 1941)	25 February 2008	25 February 2013	5 years, 0 days	Grand National → Saenuri	17 (2007)
11		Park Geun-hye 박근혜 朴槿惠 (born 1952)	25 February 2013	10 March 2017[n 11]	4 years, 13 days	Saenuri → Liberty Korea	18 (2012)
—		Hwang Kyo-ahn 황교안 黃敎安 (born 1957) (acting)[n 4]	10 March 2017	10 May 2017	61 days	Independent	Acting
12		Moon Jae-in 문재인 文在寅 (born 1953)	10 May 2017	Incumbent	3 years, 96 days	Democratic	19 (2017)

Timeline

Living former presidents

As of August 2020, four former presidents are alive:

• 
  Chun Doo-hwan
  (1980–1988)
  Age 89
• 
  Roh Tae-woo
  (1988–1993)
  Age 87
• 
  Lee Myung-bak
  (2008–2013)
  Age 78
• 
  Park Geun-hye
  (2013–2017)
  Age 68

The most recent President to die was Kim Young-sam, who died on 22 November 2015 (at the age of 87 years, 337 days).

See also

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

Notes

1. The election was nullified.
2. as Minister of Foreign Affairs
3. as Speaker of the House of Commons
4. as Prime Minister
5. as President of the Senate
6. as Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction
7. Died in office.
8. Removed by coup d'état.
9. as acting Prime Minister
10. From 12 March to 14 May 2004, Prime Minister Goh Kun served as an acting president. It was because of the National Assembly's motion to impeach him. He later returned to his post after the Constitutional Court refused to impeach him.
11. Impeached and removed.

References