Prime Minister of South Korea
| Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea | |
|---|---|
Emblem of the prime minister | |
Standard of the prime minister | |
Incumbent since 3 July 2025Kim Min-seok | |
| Executive branch of the Government of South Korea Prime Minister's Office | |
| Style |
|
| Status | |
| Member of |
|
| Residence | Chongni Gonggwan |
| Seat | Sejong City |
| Nominator | President |
| Appointer | President (Subject to the National Assembly's approval) |
| Term length | At the president's pleasure |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of South Korea |
| Precursor | Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea |
| Inaugural holder | Lee Beom-seok |
| Formation | 31 July 1948 |
| Unofficial names | Prime Minister of South Korea |
| Deputy | Deputy Prime Minister |
| Salary | ₩191,000,000 annually[1] |
| Website | Official website (in English) Official website (in Korean) |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 국무총리 |
| Hanja | 國務總理 |
| RR | Gungmuchongni |
| MR | Kungmuch'ongni |
| This article is part of a series on |
Politics of South Korea |
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The prime minister of the Republic of Korea (Korean: 국무총리) is the deputy head of government and the second highest political office of South Korea. The prime minister is appointed by the president of the Republic of Korea, with the National Assembly's approval. The prime minister may be a member of the National Assembly, but this is not required to hold the office.
Unlike prime ministers of parliamentary democracies, the prime minister of South Korea is not the head of government of South Korea but a senior member of the cabinet, since the president is both the head of state and head of government in the country. The prime minister is the principal executive assistant to the president, and is first in the order of succession; the prime minister assumes the presidency in acting capacity, upon the removal or incapacitation of the sitting president, similar to the vice president of the United States.[2]
The current prime minister is Kim Min-seok, having taken office on 3 July 2025 after being appointed by President Lee Jae Myung. After Han Duck-soo's impeachment on 27 December 2024, deputy prime minister and Finance Minister Choi briefly held the role of acting prime minister before his reinstatement on 24 March 2025 by the Constitutional Court of South Korea.[3]
- ^ "President's annual salary set at W225m". The Korea Herald. 16 January 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "South Korea's parliament impeaches acting president Han Duck-soo, as Yoon Suk Yeol goes on trial". CNA. Retrieved 2024-12-27.