Republic of Korea
South Korea, 1948 to today. Draft, not yet reviewed
After negotiations on reunification failed, the southern zone became the Republic of Korea in August 1948, while the northern zone became the Soviet-aligned Democratic People's Republic of Korea the following month. The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice and left three million Koreans dead and the economy in ruins. South Korea endured a series of dictatorships punctuated by coups, revolutions, and violent uprisings, but also experienced a soaring economy and one of the fastest rises in average GDP per capita, leading to its emergence as one of the Four Asian Tigers. The June Democratic Struggle of 1987 ended authoritarian rule and led to the establishment of the current Sixth Republic.
Seat of power: Seoul
Rulers
Syngman Rhee
President of South Korea, 1948–1960
Syngman Rhee was the first president of South Korea from 1948 until his resignation in 1960. His administration was characterised by authoritarianism, limited economic development, and in the late 1950s growing political instability and public opposition to his rule.
Portrait of Syngman Rhee: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Yun Po-sun
President of South Korea, 1960–1962
Yun Po-sun served as the second president of South Korea from 1960 to 1962. He was the only president of the short-lived Second Republic of Korea, and served as little more than a figurehead due to its nature as a parliamentary system. He was forced to resign the presidency by Park Chung Hee as a result of the May 16 coup in 1961.
Portrait of Yun Po-sun: 공보처 홍보국 사진담당관, Public domain, file
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Park Chung-hee
President of South Korea, 1962–1979
Park Chung Hee seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961 and served as the third president of South Korea from 1962 until his assassination in 1979. His regime oversaw a period of intense economic growth and transformation, making Park one of the most consequential leaders in Korean history, although his legacy as a military dictator remains a bitter subject.
Portrait of Park Chung-hee: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service, CC BY-SA 2.0, file
_Presidential_Portrait_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}
Choi Kyu-hah
President of South Korea, 1979–1980
Choi Kyu-hah served as the fourth president of South Korea from 1979 to 1980. After the assassination of Park Chung Hee in 1979, Choi became acting president. Earlier, he served as the prime minister under the administration of President Park Chung Hee from 1975 to 1979.
Portrait of Choi Kyu-hah: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service, CC BY-SA 2.0, file
_Choi.jpg){kind=link}
Chun Doo-hwan
President of South Korea, 1980–1988
Chun Doo-hwan served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. A member of the Democratic Justice Party, he ruled the country as a military dictator following a successful coup in December 1979. He governed under a constitution somewhat less authoritarian than Park's Fourth Republic, but still held very broad executive power, and used extreme violence to maintain it.
Portrait of Chun Doo-hwan: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service, CC BY-SA 2.0, file
_Presidential_Portrait.jpg){kind=link}
Roh Tae-woo
President of South Korea, 1988–1993
Roh Tae-woo served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. In 1987, he became the first president to be directly elected under the current democratic constitution. As a major general commanding the White Horse Division in 1979, Roh played a key role in the December 1979 military coup that brought Chun to power, and supported Chun's violent crackdown of the Gwangju Uprising in 1980.
Portrait of Roh Tae-woo: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service, CC BY-SA 2.0, file
_Presidential_Potraits.jpg){kind=link}
Kim Young-sam
President of South Korea, 1993–1998
Kim Young-sam served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. Kim was the first civilian to serve as president in the country's history. He was inaugurated on 25 February 1993, and served a single five-year term, presiding over a massive anti-corruption campaign, the arrest of his two predecessors, and an internationalization policy called Segyehwa.
Portrait of Kim Young-sam: 대한민국 국가기록원, KOGL Type 1, file
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Kim Dae-jung
President of South Korea, 1998–2003
Kim Dae-jung served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He promoted the Sunshine Policy, a policy of détente toward North Korea, and held the first-ever inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in June 2000. In 2000, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea and Japan in December 2000.
Portrait of Kim Dae-jung: 대한민국 국가기록원, KOGL Type 1, file
Roh Moo-hyun
President of South Korea, 2003–2008
Roh Moo-hyun served as the ninth president of South Korea from 2003 to 2008. Roh's election was notable for the arrival in power of a new generation of Korean politicians, the so-called 386 Generation. South Korea received the highest marks on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index under his administration.
Portrait of Roh Moo-hyun: 대한민국 국가기록원, KOGL Type 1, file
Lee Myung-bak
President of South Korea, 2008–2013
Lee Myung-bak served as the tenth president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Lee altered the South Korean government's approach to North Korea, preferring a more hardline strategy in the wake of increased provocation from the North, though he was supportive of regional dialogue with Russia, China and Japan. Under Lee, South Korea increased its visibility and influence in the global scene, resulting in the hosting of the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit.
Portrait of Lee Myung-bak: 대한민국 국가기록원 (National Archives of Korea), KOGL Type 1, file
Park Geun-hye
President of South Korea, 2013–2017
Park Geun-hye served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until her removal from office in 2017. On 9 December 2016, Park was impeached by the National Assembly on charges related to influence peddling by her top aide, Choi Soon-sil. The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment by a unanimous 8-0 ruling on 10 March 2017, thereby removing Park from office, making her the first Korean president to be so removed.
Portrait of Park Geun-hye: 대한민국 국가기록원, KOGL Type 1, file
Hwang Kyo-ahn
President of South Korea, 2016–2017
Hwang Kyo-ahn served as the acting president of South Korea from 2016 to 2017 and as the prime minister of South Korea from 2015 to 2017. On 9 December 2016, President Park Geun Hye was impeached by the National Assembly. Hwang assumed the role of Acting President of Korea in accordance with the presidential order of succession until the election of Moon Jae-in on 9 May 2017.
Portrait of Hwang Kyo-ahn: Republic of Korea, CC BY-SA 2.0, file
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Moon Jae-in
President of South Korea, 2017–2022
Moon Jae-in served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. As president, Moon received international attention for his meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at inter-Korean summits in April, May, and September 2018, making him the third South Korean president to meet their North Korean counterpart. On economic policy, he favored reform of chaebols (conglomerates), raised the minimum wage by more than 16%, and lowered the maximum workweek from 68 to 52 hours.
Portrait of Moon Jae-in: Government of the Republic of Korea, KOGL Type 1, file
Yoon Suk Yeol
President of South Korea, 2022–2025
Yoon Suk Yeol served as the 13th president of South Korea from 2022 until his removal from office in 2025. On 3 December 2024, Yoon attempted a self-coup by declaring martial law, the first time it had been declared in South Korea since the military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan in 1980. On 4 April, the Constitutional Court unanimously upheld Yoon's impeachment by the National Assembly, officially terminating his presidency.
Portrait of Yoon Suk Yeol: Office of the President of South Korea, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Lee Jae Myung
President of South Korea, 2025–2030
Lee Jae Myung has served as the 14th president of South Korea since 2025. In the aftermath of Yoon's removal, Lee launched a third presidential bid in 2025, won the DPK nomination, and defeated the PPP candidate Kim Moon-soo in the presidential election. Lee previously served as governor of Gyeonggi from 2018 to 2021 and as mayor of Seongnam from 2010 to 2018.
Portrait of Lee Jae Myung: Republic of Korea/플리커 / 대한민국 청와대, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Culture
- Since the turn of the 21st century, the country has been renowned for its globally influential pop culture, particularly in music, TV dramas, and cinema, a phenomenon referred to as the Korean Wave.
- South Korea has some of the fastest Internet connection speeds and densest high-speed railway networks.
- The country performs well in metrics of education, human development, democratic governance, and innovation.
Picture
Seoul is the capital and largest city of South Korea, and its history traces back to 18 BC, when it was founded by the people of Baekje.
Image: Eunmi Park, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.