The Most Famous

POLITICIANS from South Korea

This page contains a list of the greatest South Korean Politicians. The pantheon dataset contains 19,576 Politicians, 103 of which were born in South Korea. This makes South Korea the birth place of the 31st most number of Politicians behind Bulgaria, and Mexico.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary South Korean Politicians of all time. This list of famous South Korean Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of South Korean Politicians.

1. Kim Il-sung (1912 - 1994)

With an HPI of 81.86, Kim Il-sung is the most famous South Korean Politician. His biography has been translated into 136 different languages on wikipedia.

Kim Il Sung (; Korean: 김일성, Korean pronunciation: [kimils͈ʌŋ]; born Kim Sung Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician, revolutionary, and military leader. He founded the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, which he led as Supreme Leader from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. Afterwards, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong Il and was declared Eternal President. He held the posts of the Premier from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to 1994. He was the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) from 1949 to 1994 (titled as chairman from 1949 to 1966 and as general secretary after 1966). Coming to power after the end of Japanese rule over Korea in 1945 following Japan's surrender in World War II, he authorized the invasion of South Korea in 1950, triggering an intervention in defense of South Korea by the United Nations led by the United States. Following the military stalemate in the Korean War, a ceasefire was signed in July 1953. He was the third-longest serving non-royal head of state/government in the 20th century, in office for more than 45 years. Under his leadership, North Korea was established as a totalitarian socialist personalist dictatorship with a centrally planned economy. It had very close political and economic relations with the Soviet Union. By the 1960s, North Korea had a slightly higher standard of living than the South, which was suffering from political chaos and economic crises. The situation was reversed in the 1970s, as a newly stable South Korea became an economic powerhouse which was fueled by Japanese and American investment, military aid and internal economic development, while North Korea stagnated and then declined during the same period. Differences emerged between North Korea and the Soviet Union; chief among them was Kim Il Sung's philosophy of Juche, which focused on Korean nationalism and self-reliance. Despite this, the country received funds, subsidies and aid from the USSR and the Eastern Bloc until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. The resulting loss of economic aid negatively affected North Korea's economy, contributing to widespread famine in 1994. During this period, North Korea also remained critical of the United States defense force's presence in the region, which it considered imperialist, having seized the American ship USS Pueblo in 1968. This was part of an infiltration and subversion campaign to reunify the peninsula under North Korea's rule. Kim outlived his allies, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, by over four and almost two decades, respectively, and remained in power during the terms of office of six South Korean Presidents and ten United States Presidents. Known as the Great Leader (Suryong), he established a far-reaching personality cult which dominates domestic politics in North Korea. At the 6th WPK Congress in 1980, his oldest son Kim Jong Il was elected to be a Presidium member and chosen to be his successor, thus establishing the Kim dynasty.

2. Sejong the Great (1397 - 1450)

With an HPI of 75.60, Sejong the Great is the 2nd most famous South Korean Politician. His biography has been translated into 67 different languages.

Sejong (Korean: 세종; Hanja: 世宗; 15 May 1397 – 30 March 1450), personal name Yi To (이도; 李祹), commonly known as Sejong the Great (세종대왕; 世宗大王), was the fourth monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. He is regarded as one of the greatest rulers in Korean history, and is remembered as the inventor of Hangul, the native alphabet of the Korean language. Initially titled Grand Prince Chungnyeong (충녕대군; 忠寧大君), he was the third son of King Taejong and Queen Wongyeong. In 1418, Sejong replaced his eldest brother, Yi Je, as crown prince; a few months later, Taejong voluntarily abdicated the throne in Sejong's favor. In the early years of Sejong's reign, King Emeritus Taejong retained vast powers, most notably absolute executive and military power, and continued to govern until his death in 1422. Sejong reinforced Korean Confucian and Neo-Confucian policies, and enacted major legal amendments (공법; 貢法). He personally created and promulgated the Korean alphabet, encouraged advancements in science and technology, and introduced measures to stimulate economic growth. He launched military campaigns to the north and implemented a relocation policy (사민정책; 徙民政策), establishing settlements in the newly conquered areas. He also ordered the Occupation of Tsushima island. From 1439, he became increasingly ill and his eldest son, Crown Prince Yi Hyang, acted as regent. Sejong died on March 1450.

3. Park Chung-hee (1917 - 1979)

With an HPI of 75.57, Park Chung-hee is the 3rd most famous South Korean Politician. His biography has been translated into 86 different languages.

Park Chung Hee (Korean: 박정희; November 14, 1917 – October 26, 1979) was a South Korean politician and army officer who served as the third president of South Korea from 1962 until his assassination in 1979, after he seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961. He is regarded as one of the most consequential leaders in Korean history, although his legacy as a military dictator continues to cause controversy. Before his presidency, Park was the second-highest-ranking officer in the South Korean army. His coup brought an end to the interim Second Republic of Korea. After serving for two years as chairman of the military junta, he was elected president in 1963, ushering in the Third Republic. A firm anti-communist, he continued to maintain close ties with the United States, which had maintained a large Army garrison in the country since the end of the Korean War. He supported American military involvement in Southeast Asia, and sent South Korean troops to Vietnam soon after seizing power. Park began a series of economic reforms that eventually led to rapid and unprecedented economic growth and industrialization, a phenomenon that is now known as the Miracle on the Han River. This made South Korea one of the fastest growing economies of the 1960s and 1970s, albeit with costs to labor rights. This era also saw the formation of chaebols: family companies supported by the state similar to the Japanese zaibatsu. Examples of significant chaebols include Hyundai, LG, and Samsung. Although popular during the 1960s, Park's popularity started to plateau by the 1970s, with closer than expected victories during the 1971 presidential election and the subsequent legislative elections. In 1972, Park declared martial law after carrying out a self-coup. He then introduced the highly authoritarian Yushin Constitution, ushering in the Fourth Republic. Now ruling as a dictator, he constantly repressed political opposition and dissent and completely controlled the military. He also had much control over the media and expressions of art. In 1979, Park was assassinated by his close friend Kim Jae-gyu, director of the KCIA, following the Busan–Masan Uprising. Whether the assassination was spontaneous or premeditated remains unclear to this day. Economic growth continued in spite of the 1979 coup d'état and considerable political turmoil in the wake of his assassination. He was soon afterwards succeeded by Choi Kyu-hah, who ruled for only a year before being deposed by career army officer Chun Doo-Hwan. The country eventually democratized with the June Democratic Struggle in 1987. Park remains a controversial figure in modern South Korean political discourse and among the South Korean populace in general, making a detached evaluation of his tenure difficult. While some credit him for sustaining economic growth, which reshaped and modernized South Korea, others criticize his authoritarian way of ruling the country (especially after 1971) and for prioritizing economic growth and social order at the expense of civil liberties and human rights. A Gallup Korea poll in October 2021 showed Park, Kim Dae-jung (an old opponent of Park whom he tried to have executed), and Roh Moo-hyun as the most highly rated presidents of South Korean history in terms of leaving a positive legacy, especially among South Korean conservatives and the elderly. Park's daughter Park Geun-hye later served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until she was impeached and convicted of various corruption charges in 2017.

4. Syngman Rhee (1875 - 1965)

With an HPI of 73.46, Syngman Rhee is the 4th most famous South Korean Politician. His biography has been translated into 78 different languages.

Syngman Rhee (Korean: 이승만; Hanja: 李承晚, pronounced [iː.sɯŋ.man]; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965) was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee is also known by his art name Unam (우남; 雩南). Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea from 1919 to his impeachment in 1925 and from 1947 to 1948. As president of South Korea, Rhee's government was characterised by authoritarianism, limited economic development, and in the late 1950s growing political instability and public opposition. Born in Hwanghae Province, Joseon, Rhee attended an American Methodist school, where he converted to Christianity. He became a Korean independence activist and was imprisoned for his activities in 1899. After his release in 1904, he moved to the United States, where he obtained degrees from American universities and met President Theodore Roosevelt. After a brief 1910–12 return to Korea, he moved to Hawaii in 1913. In 1919, following the Japanese suppression of the March First Movement, Rhee joined the right-leaning Korean Provisional Government in exile in Shanghai. From 1918 to 1924, he served as the first President of the Korean Provisional Government until he was impeached in 1925. He then returned to the United States, where he advocated and fundraised for Korean independence. In 1939, he moved to Washington, DC. In 1945, he was returned to US-controlled Korea by the US military, and on July 20, 1948 he was elected the first president of the Republic of Korea by the National Assembly, ushering in the First Republic of Korea. As president, Rhee continued his hardline anti-communist and pro-American views that characterized much of his earlier political career. Early on in his presidency, his government put down a communist uprising on Jeju Island, and the Mungyeong and Bodo League massacres were committed against suspected communist sympathisers, leaving at least 100,000 people dead. Rhee was president during the outbreak of the Korean War (1950–1953), in which North Korea invaded South Korea. He refused to sign the armistice agreement that ended the war, wishing to have the peninsula reunited by force. After the fighting ended, South Korea's economy lagged behind North Korea's and was heavily reliant on US aid. After being re-elected in 1956, he pushed to modify the constitution to remove the two-term limit, despite opposition protests. He was reelected uncontested in March 1960, after his opponent Chough Pyung-ok died from cancer before the election took place. After Rhee's ally Lee Ki-poong won the corresponding vice-presidential election by a wide margin, the opposition rejected the result as rigged, which triggered protests. These escalated into the student-led April Revolution, in which police shot demonstrators in Masan. The resulting scandal caused Rhee to resign on 26 April, ushering in the Second Republic of Korea. Despite this, protesters continued to converge on the presidential palace, leading to the CIA covertly evacuating him on 28 April by helicopter. He spent the rest of his life in exile in Honolulu, Hawaii, and died of a stroke in 1965.

5. Kim Dae-jung (1924 - 2009)

With an HPI of 72.64, Kim Dae-jung is the 5th most famous South Korean Politician. His biography has been translated into 83 different languages.

Kim Dae-jung (Korean: 김대중; Hanja: 金大中, pronounced [kim.dɛ.dʑuŋ]; 6 January 1924 – 18 August 2009) was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Party. He was an opposition politician who carried out a democratization movement against military dictatorship from the Third Republic in the 1960s to the Fifth Republic in the 1980s. He ran unsuccessfully in presidential elections in 1971, 1987, and 1992. In the country's 15th presidential election in 1997, he defeated Grand National Party candidate Lee Hoi-chang through an alliance with Kim Jong-pil and DJP. Kim was the first opposition candidate to win the presidency. At the time of his inauguration in 1998, he was 74 years old, making him the oldest president in Korean history. 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. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient 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. He was the first South Korean to be awarded a Nobel Prize, the second being awarded to Han Kang in 2024 for Literature. He was sometimes referred to as "the Nelson Mandela of Asia". After completing his term in 2003, he died at the age of 85 on 18 August 2009, due to multiple organ failure and respiratory distress syndrome caused by pneumonia.

6. Gojong of Korea (1852 - 1919)

With an HPI of 72.33, Gojong of Korea is the 6th most famous South Korean Politician. His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.

Gojong (Korean: 고종; Hanja: 高宗; 8 September 1852 – 21 January 1919), personal name Yi Myeongbok (이명복; 李命福), later Yi Hui (이희; 李㷩), also known as the Gwangmu Emperor (광무제; 光武帝), was the penultimate Korean monarch. He ruled Korea for 43 years, from 1864 to 1907, first as the last king of Joseon, and then as the first emperor of the Korean Empire from 1897 until his forced abdication in 1907. His wife, Queen Min (posthumously honored as Empress Myeongseong), played an active role in politics until her assassination carried out by the Japanese. Gojong oversaw the bulk of the Korean monarchy's final years. He was born into the ruling House of Yi, and was first crowned on 13 December 1863 at the age of twelve. His biological father, Grand Internal Prince Heungseon (widely known as Heungseon Daewongun), acted as regent until he reached the age of majority, although he continued holding power until 1874. At this time, Korea was under policies of strict isolationism. By contrast, Japan had been rapidly modernizing under the Meiji Restoration. In 1876, Japan forcefully opened Korea and began a decades-long process of moving the peninsula into its own sphere of influence. For the following few decades, Korea was highly unstable, and subjected to a number of foreign encroachments. Incidents such as the 1882 Imo Incident, the 1884 Gapsin Coup, the 1894–1895 Donghak Peasant Rebellion, and the 1895 assassination of his wife occurred during his reign. All of these incidents were related to or involved foreign powers. All the while, Gojong attempted to consolidate control, seek foreign support, and modernize the country in order to keep Korea independent. He initiated the Gwangmu Reform, which sought to improve the military, industry, and education, to some amount of success. These reforms were seen as insufficient by some parts of the Korean literati, especially the Independence Club, which Gojong at first tolerated but eventually abolished in 1898. After Japan defeated China in the 1894–1895 First Sino-Japanese War, China lost its suzerainty over Korea, which it had held for centuries. In 1897, shortly after returning from his internal exile in the Russian legation in Seoul, Gojong proclaimed the establishment of the independent Korean Empire, and became its first emperor. Gojong's actions drew the ire of Japan. After Japan defeated Russia in the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War, it finally became the sole power in the region, and accelerated its pace of absorbing Korea. Two months after the victory, Korea under Gojong lost diplomatic sovereignty in the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905, signed by five ministers of Korea. Gojong refused to sign it and made attempts to bring the treaty to the attention of the international community and convince leading powers of the treaty's illegitimacy, but to no avail. Gojong was forced to abdicate by Japan on 20 July 1907, and was replaced by his son, Yi Cheok. He was then confined to the palace Deoksugung. He made multiple attempts to escape and establish a government in exile abroad, but was unsuccessful each time. Korea formally became a Japanese colony in 1910, and the Korean imperial family was formally absorbed into the Japanese. Gojong died on 21 January 1919, in his palace, in conditions that were then and are still seen in Korea as suspicious. The official cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage but rumors persisted that Gojong had been poisoned by Japan. His death was a direct catalyst for the March First Movement, which in turn bolstered the Korean independence movement.

7. Moon Jae-in (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 71.68, Moon Jae-in is the 7th most famous South Korean Politician. His biography has been translated into 91 different languages.

Moon Jae-in (Korean: 문재인, pronounced [mun.dʑɛ.in]; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean politician who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs and Chief of Staff to President Roh Moo-hyun, Member of the National Assembly, and Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Born to North Korean refugees, Moon was raised in poverty in Busan. He excelled in school and studied law at Kyung Hee University. He became a lawyer and was involved in human rights activism with Roh Moo-hyun. He was imprisoned for organizing a protest against the Yushin Constitution. As a result of his work in human rights law, Moon was chosen to be Roh's campaign manager in the 2002 presidential election. He served in Roh's administration in various official capacities. In 2012, Moon was a candidate for the Democratic United Party in the 2012 presidential election, which he lost to Park Geun-hye, in which Park was aided by the National Intelligence Service (NIS). In the 2017 presidential election, Moon was elected president as the Democratic Party of Korea candidate after Park Geun-hye was impeached and removed from office. As president, Moon received international attention for his meetings with North Korean Chairman 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 June 30, 2019, he met with both Kim and US president Donald Trump at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Moon favors the Sunshine Policy, a peaceful Korean reunification. On economic policy, he favors reform of chaebols (conglomerates), raised the minimum wage by more than 16%, and lowered the maximum workweek from 68 to 52 hours. During the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, Moon received praise domestically and internationally. His party won a historic victory in the 2020 South Korean legislative election. He left office in May 2022, succeeded by his former prosecutor general, Yoon Suk Yeol.

8. Empress Gi (1315 - 1369)

With an HPI of 70.50, Empress Gi is the 8th most famous South Korean Politician. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Empress Gi or Empress Ki (Korean: 기황후; Hanja: 奇皇后; 1315–1369(?)), also known as Empress Qi (Chinese: 奇皇后) or Öljei Khutuk (Mongolian: Өлзийхутаг; Chinese: 完者忽都), was a Goryeo-born empress consort of the Yuan dynasty. She was one of the primary empresses of Toghon Temür (Emperor Huizong), and the mother of Biligtü Khan (Emperor Zhaozong), who would become an emperor of the Northern Yuan dynasty. Gi was originally from an aristocratic family of the Goryeo dynasty, and first served as a concubine of Toghon Temür. During the last years of the Yuan dynasty, she became one of its most powerful women and political figures, controlling the country economically and politically, and ruling with de facto imperial powers.

9. Sukjong of Joseon (1661 - 1720)

With an HPI of 70.37, Sukjong of Joseon is the 9th most famous South Korean Politician. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Sukjong (Korean: 숙종; Hanja: 肅宗; 7 October 1661 – 12 July 1720), personal name Yi Sun (이순; 李焞), was the 19th monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. A skilled legislator, he caused multiple changes in political power throughout his reign, by switching among the Namin (Southerners), Seoin (Westerners), Soron and Noron political factions.

10. Jeongjo of Joseon (1752 - 1800)

With an HPI of 70.24, Jeongjo of Joseon is the 10th most famous South Korean Politician. His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Jeongjo (Korean: 정조; Hanja: 正祖; 28 October 1752 – 18 August 1800), personal name Yi San (이산; 李祘), sometimes called Jeongjo the Great (정조대왕; 正祖大王), was the 22nd monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. He was the second son of Crown Prince Sado and Lady Hyegyŏng, and succeeded his grandfather, King Yeongjo, in 1776. Today, Jeongjo is remembered for his various efforts to reform and improve the nation.

People

Pantheon has 111 people classified as South Korean politicians born between 333 BC and 1996. Of these 111, 33 (29.73%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living South Korean politicians include Moon Jae-in, Park Geun-hye, and Yoon Suk Yeol. The most famous deceased South Korean politicians include Kim Il-sung, Sejong the Great, and Park Chung-hee. As of April 2024, 8 new South Korean politicians have been added to Pantheon including Yoon Suk Yeol, Beopheung of Silla, and Heo Gyun.