# Han Duck-soo

Han Duck-soo (Korean: 한덕수; born 18 June 1949) is a South Korean diplomat, economist, and politician who served as acting president of South Korea from 14 to 27 December 2024 and the 48th prime minister of South Korea from 2022. Since 27 December 2024, Han has been suspended from his presidential and prime ministerial powers following his impeachment by the National Assembly of Korea.
Han is the fifth person to hold the prime minister's office twice, having previously served in the office under President Roh Moo-hyun from 2007 to 2008. He also held office as the minister of economy and finance from 2005 to 2006, the ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2012, and the chairman of the Korea International Trade Association from 2012 to 2015.
On 27 December 2024, Han was impeached by the National Assembly of South Korea due to his refusals to promulgate two special counsel bills that sought to investigate the impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee or to appoint three National Assembly-designated candidates for the Constitutional Court of Korea.

## Early life and education

Han was born on 18 June 1949 in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, as the fifth son of six sons and three daughters to Han Byeong-ho and Jeonju Choi. He served in the South Korean Army and was discharged as a sergeant. Han graduated from Seoul National University with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1971. He received a master's degree in economics in 1979 and a doctorate in economics in 1984 from Harvard University.

## Career
### Early political career

Han started his political career at the National Tax Service in 1970 and joined the Economic Planning Board four years later. In 1982, he moved to what is now the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, where he eventually became Vice Minister. He held the office from 1997 to 1998, during which the 1997 Asian financial crisis took place. After Han left the position, he was Minister of Trade Affairs from 1998 to 2000, where his primary role was handling trade negotiations with foreign governments.
Han became Minister of Finance in March 2005. Later, he briefly served as Acting Prime Minister from 14 March 2006 to 19 April 2006. He resigned as Finance Minister in July 2006 and became a special presidential advisor for free trade agreement affairs.

### First premiership (2007–2008)

On 9 March 2007, Han was nominated as prime minister by President Roh Moo-hyun following the resignation of Han Myeong-sook. His nomination was approved by the National Assembly on 2 April 2007. He left office on 29 February 2008 after Lee Myung-bak was inaugurated as president, being succeeded in the office by Han Seung-soo.

### First post–premiership (2009–2022)

As Han was viewed as a political centrist, President Lee Myung-bak appointed him as South Korean ambassador to the United States in 2009. During his time as ambassador, he played a major role in reaching the United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement. From 2012 to 2015, Han also served as chairman of the Korea International Trade Association.

### Second premiership (2022–present)

Han held teaching positions at Hongik University and Dankook University before President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol nominated him for prime minister in April 2022. During his confirmation hearings, Han claimed stabilizing the economy would be his top priority in office. The Democratic Party, who held a majority of the seats in the National Assembly, and the Justice Party both boycotted his confirmation. However, he was approved in May and became prime minister again at the age of 72 and 11 months, making him the oldest person ever to take the office.
In February 2024, after a government plan to boost admissions into medical schools was introduced, thousands of doctors resigned in protest, claiming it would hurt the quality of service. The protest caused considerable delays to surgical procedures and medical treatment. Han ordered emergency measures to combat the crisis, such as the use of telemedicine, more public hospital operations, and the opening of military clinics. On 22 February, Han announced that South Korea's health alert would be raised to 'severe' during a disaster management meeting. A couple days later, Han announced that South Korea would send military and community doctors to combat the ongoing emergency.
On 10 April 2024, Han offered his resignation following his party's defeat in the 2024 South Korean legislative elections.
In August 2024, Han advised President Yoon Suk Yeol to down four bills sponsored by the opposition, claiming they breached the president's nomination rights enshrined in the Constitution. In the same month, amid the prolonged medical crisis, Han announced that hospitals could extend the application period for trainee doctor programs. The statement occurred after only 104 candidates (1.4 percent of trainee doctor positions available in 126 hospitals) had applied for the programs. Han also reported that comprehensive plans for four health care reform tasks and a five year investment plan to boost medical sectors would be announced later in the month.
Han was reported to have been sidelined by President Yoon on the latter's declaration of martial law in December 2024, for which Han apologized and said that he had "consistently" opposed. Han was later named as a suspect by police in their investigation into martial law and underwent questioning. After Yoon's attempted impeachment, Han and People Power Party Leader Han Dong-hoon proposed a plan where they would jointly fill in for the role of the presidency. However, the plan was widely criticized and ruled as unconstitutional.

#### Acting presidency (2024)

Han became the acting president of South Korea following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol on 14 December 2024. When Han was being asked by police for questioning in its investigation of martial law, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said that the party would not move to impeach Han for the time being to avoid "confusion in their state affairs".
As acting president, Han vetoed six bills passed by the National Assembly that had been sponsored by the Democratic Party on 19 December. Among the bills vetoed were proposed amendments to the Grain Management Act, which would have required the government to purchase surplus rice to stabilize prices during market fluctuations. Han cited concerns over its effect on the market as a reason for vetoing the bill. Other measures he vetoed included a bill requiring companies to submit requested data to members of the National Assembly, saying that it was an invasion of constitutional rights to privacy.

#### Impeachment

On 24 December, the Democratic Party said that it would seek to impeach Han due to his failure to promulgate two special counsel bills that sought to investigate Yoon and his wife Kim over his martial law declaration and charges of corruption. The motion was filed on 26 December after Han asked the National Assembly to agree on three nominees to the Constitutional Court of Korea, with the plenary vote scheduled on 27 December. Prior to the vote, Speaker Woo Won-shik ruled that Han can be impeached by a simple majority due to his status as a cabinet minister, paving the way for him to be impeached by 192 MPs on 27 December. Han was succeeded as acting president and acting prime minister by Choi Sang-mok.
The Constitutional Court of Korea has 180 days from the passage of Han's impeachment motion to review it. Han's impeachment trial began on 19 February 2025, with Han in attendance. Han reiterated his denial of prior knowledge of Yoon's plans to declare martial law and insisted that he had tried to dissuade him from doing so. He also apologized to the public for the ongoing political crisis and asked the country to make a "wise judgment" to enable the nation to reach an "era of rationality". Han also said that the approval of special counsel bills to investigate Yoon and his wife would have "fundamentally violated the principles of constitutional governance".
On 14 February 2025, the Constitutional Court ordered Han to testify as a witness in Yoon's impeachment at a hearing scheduled on 20 February. On that day, Han testified that members of Yoon's cabinet were concerned about his plans to declare martial law and tried to dissuade him from doing so, while denying claims from defense minister Kim Yong-hyun that some members were in support of the plan. He also said that the martial law declaration did not follow constitutional and legal procedures and questioned whether Yoon's cabinet meeting on 3 December 2024, in which Yoon revealed his plans to declare martial law, was a proper one.

## Personal life

Han is married to Choi Ah-young and has no children.

## Honours
### National honours

* South Korea:
** Recipient of the Order of Civil Merit, Mugunghwa Medal (2013)
** Recipient of the Order of Service Merit, Blue Stripe (2012)