# List of presidents of South Korea

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.
Under the 1988 Constitution of the Sixth Republic of Korea, the presidential term is set at five years with no 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 term was previously set at four years during the First Republic from 1948 to 1960, including a two-term limit that was repealed in 1954. The presidency was changed into a ceremonial role elected by legislators to five-year terms during the Second Republic from 1960 to 1963. The Third Republic returned the presidency to a directly-elected position with a four-year term in 1963 and repealed the two-term limit in 1969. Under the Yushin Constitution of the Fourth Republic adopted in 1972, the presidency became an indirectly elected position with six-year terms and no limits to re-election. It was replaced with a seven-year term under the Fifth Republic in 1981, which retained the indirect elections but prohibited a second term.
As of 2024, thirteen people have served in full capacity as president of South Korea since the office was formally established on 24 July 1948, when Syngman Rhee took office after being elected by the Constituent National Assembly. The longest-serving president is Park Chung Hee, who held the office for 18 years from a 1961 coup until his assassination in 1979 following a period of authoritarian rule. The first and only woman to hold the presidency was his daughter Park Geun-hye, who was elected in 2012 and removed from office in 2017 after her impeachment was upheld by the Constitutional Court of Korea. Yoon Suk Yeol assumed office on 10 May 2022 and was impeached by the National Assembly on 14 December 2024. His powers will remain suspended until a Constitutional Court decision upholds or rejects the impeachment; until then, the prime minister served as acting president. The prime minister, Han Duck-soo, was himself impeached from the acting presidency on 27 December 2024 and replaced by deputy prime minister Choi Sang-mok, who became acting president.

## List of presidents

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Election |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Political party | Election |
| Presidents of the First Republic ||||||||
| 1 | | Syngman Rhee 이승만 李承晩 (1875–1965) | 24 July 1948 | 26 April 1960 | 11 years, 277 days | NARRKILiberal | 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 ||||||||
| — | | Ho Chong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) Acting | 15 June 1960 | 15 June 1960 | 1 day | Independent | — |
| — | | 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 | 16 May 1961 | 216 days | Democratic | 4th (August 1960) | Presidents of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction | Presidents of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction | Presidents of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction | Presidents of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction | Presidents of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction | Presidents of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction | Presidents of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction | Presidents of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction | (2) | Yun Po-sun 윤보선 尹潽善 (1897–1990) | 16 May 1961 | 24 March 1962 | 313 days | DemocraticNew Democratic |
| — | | General Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979) Chairman of the SCNR | 24 March 1962 | 17 December 1963 | 1 year, 269 days | Military | — |
| President of the Third Republic ||||||||
| 3 | | Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979) | 17 December 1963 | 21 November 1972 | 8 years, 341 days | Democratic Republican | 5th (1963)6th (1967)7th (1971) |
| Presidents of the Fourth Republic ||||||||
| (3) | | Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979) | 21 November 1972 | 26 October 1979 | 6 years, 340 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 | | Choi Kyu-hah 최규하 崔圭夏 (1919–2006) | 6 December 1979 | 16 August 1980 | 255 days | Independent | 10th (1979) |
| — | | Park Choong-hoon 박충훈 朴忠勳 (1919–2001) Acting | 16 August 1980 | 1 September 1980 | 16 days | Democratic Republican | — |
| 5 | | Chun Doo-hwan 전두환 全斗煥 (1931–2021) | 1 September 1980 | 24 February 1981 | 177 days | Military (Hanahoe) | 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 | Democratic Justice (Hanahoe) | 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 | Democratic JusticeDemocratic LiberalIndependent | 13th (1987) |
| 7 | | Kim Young-sam 김영삼 金泳三 (1927–2015) | 25 February 1993 | 24 February 1998 | 5 years | Democratic LiberalNew KoreaIndependent | 14th (1992) |
| 8 | | Kim Dae-jung 김대중 金大中 (1924–2009) | 25 February 1998 | 24 February 2003 | 5 years | National CongressMillennium DemocraticIndependent | 15th (1997) |
| 9 | | Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 盧武鉉 (1946–2009) | 25 February 2003 | 12 March 2004 | 1 year, 17 days | Millennium DemocraticIndependent | 16th (2002) |
| — | | Goh Kun 고건 高建 (born 1938) Acting | 12 March 2004 | 14 May 2004 | 64 days | Millennium Democratic | — |
| (9) | | Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 盧武鉉 (1946–2009) | 14 May 2004 | 24 February 2008 | 3 years, 287 days | UriIndependent | - |
| 10 | | Lee Myung-bak 이명박 李明博 (born 1941) | 25 February 2008 | 24 February 2013 | 5 years | Grand NationalSaenuri | 17th (2007) |
| 11 | | Park Geun-hye 박근혜 朴槿惠 (born 1952) | 25 February 2013 | 10 March 2017 | 4 years, 14 days | SaenuriLiberty 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 | Democratic | 19th (2017) |
| 13 | | Yoon Suk Yeol 윤석열 尹錫悅 (born 1960) | 10 May 2022 | Incumbent (powers and duties suspended since 14 December 2024) | 2 years, 306 days | People Power | 20th (2022) |
| — | | Han Duck-soo 한덕수 韓悳洙 (born 1949) Acting | 14 December 2024 | 27 December 2024 | 14 days | Independent | — |
| — | | Choi Sang-mok 최상목 崔相穆 (born 1963) Acting | 27 December 2024 | Incumbent | 75 days | Independent | — |

## Timeline

| Ideology | Ideology | # | Time in office | Name(s) |
| | Conservative | 9 | 21741 days | Choi Kyu-hah, Chun Doo-hwan, Kim Young-sam, Lee Myung-bak, Park Chung Hee, Park Geun-hye, Roh Tae-woo, Syngman Rhee, and Yoon Suk Yeol (incumbent) |
| | Liberal | 4 | 6067 days | Kim Dae-jung, Moon Jae-in, Roh Moo-hyun, and Yun Po-sun |
* Timeline of South Korean governments vte