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 Chair of the National Election Committee, as leader of constitutionally independent agency for national election administration

History 
Before democratization in 1987, South Korea traditionally maintained a term Sambu-Yoin() 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() or Ohbu-Yoin(), as regarding the Constitutional Court as fourth branch and the National Election Committee as fifth branch of the government, even though the 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'()

Current office holders of highest constitutional institutions

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)

See also 
 Constitution of South Korea
 Politics of South Korea
 Order of precedence
 Constitutional institution

References 

Orders of precedence
Politics of South Korea
Government of South Korea