South Korea (the Republic of Korea) is a presidential republic. The president is head of state and government, elected by direct popular vote to a single five-year term with no possibility of re-election — a rule written into the constitution specifically to prevent the kind of long-term personal rule seen under earlier military governments.
The current president is Lee Jae-myung, of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, who took office on 4 June 2025 after winning a snap election. That election was triggered by the impeachment and removal of his predecessor, Yoon Suk-yeol, following Yoon's attempt to declare martial law in December 2024 — a move parliament reversed within hours and which the Constitutional Court later cited in upholding his removal from office.
Legislative power rests with the unicameral National Assembly (Gukhoe), whose 300 members are elected to four-year terms through a mix of single-member constituencies and proportional representation. Executive and legislative power do not always sit with the same party, which has repeatedly produced periods of a president governing alongside an opposition-controlled Assembly.
South Korean politics is dominated by two large blocs — currently the liberal Democratic Party and the conservative People Power Party — along with several smaller parties. Past presidents have included Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Lee Myung-bak, Park Geun-hye (removed from office by impeachment in 2017), Moon Jae-in, and Yoon Suk-yeol.
