South Korea
at a Glance

He led the founding of the Republic of Korea and became its first president. He resigned in 1960 after the April 19 Revolution broke out in protest of the rigged March 15 election.

He was elected as a largely ceremonial head of state under the Second Republic's parliamentary cabinet system. After the May 16, 1961 military coup, he tried to stabilize the political situation before resigning the following year.

He drove export-led industrialization through Five-Year Economic Development Plans. He built a long-term power structure with the 1972 Yushin Constitution and was assassinated in the October 26, 1979 incident.

He succeeded to the presidency through constitutional procedure immediately after President Park's death. He resigned about eight months into his term as the political influence of the new military group grew.

He seized effective control of the military in the December 12, 1979 coup, militarily suppressed the May 18, 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement, and took office as president that August. In 1981 he secured Seoul's bid to host the 1988 Olympics, though the Games themselves were held under the following administration.

He was elected as the first president under direct popular vote following the 1987 constitutional amendment. He hosted the 1988 Seoul Olympics and pursued Nordpolitik, establishing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, China, and other socialist states.

Soon after taking office, he abruptly introduced the real-name financial transaction system and disbanded the military faction Hanahoe. In 1997, near the end of his term, the Asian financial crisis hit and Korea received an IMF bailout.

He took office amid the financial crisis and helped resolve it early through corporate and financial restructuring. In 2000 he held the first inter-Korean summit since division, in Pyongyang, and received the Nobel Peace Prize for this work.

He took office pledging to dismantle authoritarian practices. In 2004 the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against him, which the Constitutional Court rejected, and in 2007 he held the second inter-Korean summit.

A former business executive, he pursued the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. He implemented economic stimulus measures in response to the 2008 global financial crisis.

She became Korea's first female president. Following the 2016 influence-peddling scandal, the National Assembly impeached her, and the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment in 2017, removing her from office.

He was elected in the by-election held after President Park's removal. In 2018 he held an inter-Korean summit at Panmunjom, and another in Pyongyang the same year, reaching agreements including the September 19 Military Agreement.

A former Prosecutor General, he took office as president. In December 2024 he declared martial law and then rescinded it; following an impeachment motion from the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court upheld his removal from office in 2025.