# South Korean order of precedence

The Republic of Korea has no officially recognized South Korean order of precedence, yet the Office of the President (EOP) once officially declared order of precedence among the chiefs of 6 highest constitutional institutions in year 2006 as following:
* the President of the Republic of Korea, as both head of state and leader of government
* the Speaker of the National Assembly, as leader of legislature
* the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the President of the Constitutional Court, as co-leader of the judiciary
* the Prime Minister, as deputy leader of government
* the Chairperson of the National Election Commission, as leader of the constitutionally independent agency for national election administration

## History

Before democratization in 1987, South Korea traditionally maintained a term Sambu-Yoin (Korean: 삼부요인; Hanja: 三府要人; lit. VIPs from three branches of the government) which depicts the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister, as symbol for tripartite separation of powers. This term was usually used when the President of the Republic of Korea invites Sambu-Yoin to important national ceremonies, regarding the President of the Republic of Korea as a somewhat higher office distinguished from each three branches of the government, which is represented by the Sambu-Yoin.
After democratization, South Korea established the Constitutional Court of Korea as constitutional court independent from the old Supreme Court. Yet the exact position of the President of the Constitutional Court inside the order of precedence among Sambu-Yoin remained as potential question. Some of writers tried to call chiefs of highest constitutional institutions other than the President of the Republic of Korea, including the Constitutional Court and the National Election Committee (NEC), as Sabu-Yoin (Korean: 사부요인; lit. VIPs from four branches of the government) or Ohbu-Yoin (Korean: 오부요인; lit. VIPs from five branches of the government), as regarding the Constitutional Court as fourth branch and the National Election Committee as fifth branch of the government, even though South Korea had never regarded the Constitutional Court and the National Election Committee as separated branch of government. This continued disorder got escalated when the EOP tried to demote protocol rank of the President of the Constitutional Court under the Prime Minister, when the Constitutional Court made several decisions nullifying policies of the national President around 2004-2006. The President of the Constitutional Court boycotted some of national ceremonies to oppose such demotion, and the EOP had no choice but to restore the rank of the constitutional court President over the Prime Minister.
So in 2006, EOP declared that 5 chiefs of highest constitutional institutions other than the national President as following order: the Speaker comes first as leader of legislature, and both of the supreme court Chief and the constitutional court President comes second as co-leader of judiciary. Following rank was given to the Prime Minister as deputy leader of executive branch, and the Chair of NEC got the bottom rank as head of constitutionally independent agency. An also at the same time, EOP declared that Sabu-Yoin or Ohbu-Yoin is not a legally correct term, since South Korea is a country with a tripartite system of power separation by the Constitution, not a Five-Power Constitution as Taiwan. The EOP suggested using term 'Sambu-Yoin plus the head of constitutional institution'(Korean: 삼부요인 및 헌법기관장)

## Current office holders of highest constitutional institutions

| No. | Office | Incumbent | In office since | Political role |
| 1st | President of the Republic of Korea | Yoon Suk-yeol | 10 May 2022 (Powers and duties suspended since 14 December 2024) | The head of state and the leader of executive branch |
| 1st | President of the Republic of Korea | Choi Sang-mok | 27 December 2024 (as acting President) | The head of state and the leader of executive branch |
| 2nd | Speaker of the National Assembly | Woo Won-shik | 5 June 2024 | Sambu-Yoin representing the leader of legislature |
| 3rd | Chief Justice of the Supreme Court | Jo Hee-de | 8 December 2023 | Sambu-Yoin representing the co-leader of judiciary |
| 3rd | President of the Constitutional Court | Moon Hyung-bae | 18 October 2024 (as acting President of the Constitutional Court) | Sambu-Yoin representing the co-leader of judiciary |
| 4th | Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea | Han Duck-soo | 21 May 2022 (Powers and duties suspended since 27 December 2024) | Sambu-Yoin representing the deputy leader of executive branch |
| 4th | Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea | Choi Sang-mok | 27 December 2024 (as acting Prime Minister) | Sambu-Yoin representing the deputy leader of executive branch |
| 5th | Chairperson of the National Election Commission | Rho Tae-ak | 17 May 2022 | |

## Detailed order

Following list is not a officially recognized South Korean order of precedence, yet conventionally used by writers and reporters.
* President of the Republic of Korea
* Speaker of the National Assembly
* Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and President of the Constitutional Court
* Prime Minister
* Chairperson of the National Election Commission
* Chair of the Board of Audit and Inspection
* Leaders of the parties represented in the National Assembly
** Leader of the ruling party
** Leaders of the oppositions
* Deputy Speakers of the National Assembly (2)
* Cabinet ministers (17)
** Deputy Prime Ministers (2)
*** Minister of Economy and Finance (Deputy Prime Minister of Economy ex officio)
*** Minister of Education (Deputy Prime Minister of Social Affairs ex officio)
** Other ministers of the Cabinet (15)
*** Minister of Foreign Affairs
*** Minister of Reunification of Korea
*** Minister of Justice
*** Minister of National Defense
*** Minister of Interior and Safety
*** Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism
*** Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
*** Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy
*** Minister of Health and Welfare
*** Minister of Environment
*** Minister of Employment and Labor
*** Minister of Gender Equality and Family
*** Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
*** Minister of Oceans and Fisheries
*** Minister of Small Businesses and Startups
* Floor leaders in the National Assembly
** Floor leader of the ruling party
** Floor leaders of the oppositions
* Chairs of the standing committees of the National Assembly (18)
** Chair of the House Steering Committee
** Chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee
** Chair of the National Policy Committee
** Chair of the National Strategy and Finance Committee
** Chair of the Education Committee
** Chair of the Science, Technology, Broadcasting and Communications Committee
** Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Reunification Committee
** Chair of the National Defense Committee
** Chair of the Public Administration and Security Committee
** Chair of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee
** Chair of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee
** Chair of the Trade, Industry, Energy, Small Businesses and Startups Committee
** Chair of the Health and Welfare Committee
** Chair of the Environment and Labor Committee
** Chair of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee
** Chair of the Intelligence Committee
** Chair of the Gender Equality and Family Committee
** Chair of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts
* Justices of the Supreme Court and Justices of the Constitutional Court (8) (each In seniority of tenure)
* Chiefs of agencies reporting to the Presidents (5)
** Director of the National Intelligence Service
** Chief Presidential Secretary
** Chair of the National Security Council
** Commissioner of the Broadcasting and Telecommunication
** Chief of the Presidential Security Service
* Prosecutor General
* Chief of the National Assembly Secretariat
* Chiefs of agencies reporting to the Prime Minister (9)
* Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
* Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces (3)
** Chief of Staff of the Army
** Chief of Staff of the Navy
** Chief of Staff of the Air Force
* Operation commanders (In seniority of tenure)
** Deputy Commander of ROK-US Combined Forces Command
** Ground Operations Commander
** Second Operations Commander
* Commander of the Marine Corps
* Members of the National Assembly (In seniority of tenure)