Government & politics — South Korea
Government structure, legal system, citizenship, and international relations.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Government & politics at a glance
Government structure, legal system, citizenship, and international relations. Key figure for South Korea: Republic of Korea
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Identity & names
- Full Country Name
Republic of Korea
- Country Name
South Korea
- Local - Long
Taehan-min'guk
- Local - Short
Han'guk
- Abbreviation
ROK
- Etymology- history of name
- derived from the Chinese name for Goryeo, which was the Korean dynasty that united the peninsula in the 10th century A.D.
- the South Korean name "Han'guk" derives from the long form, "Taehan-min'guk," which is itself a derivation from "Daehan-je'guk," which means "the Great Empire of the Han"
- "Han" refers to the "Sam'han" or the "Three Han Kingdoms" (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla from the Three Kingdoms Era, 1st-7th centuries A.D.)
- Independence
15 August 1945 (from Japan)
- National Holiday
Liberation Day, 15 August (1945)
Political system
- Government Type
presidential republic
- Constitution
- history: several previous; latest passed by National Assembly 12 October 1987, approved in referendum 28 October 1987,
- effective 25 February 1988 amendments: proposed by the president or by majority support of the National Assembly membership; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly membership, approval in a referendum by more than one half of the votes by more than one half of eligible voters, and promulgation by the president; amended several times, last in 1987
- Legal System:
mixed legal system combining European civil law, Anglo-American law, and Chinese classical thought
- Executive Branch:
- chief of state: P
- Prime Minister KIM Min-seok (since 3 July 2025) cabinet: State Council appointed by the president on the
- prime minister's recommendation election/appointment process: president directly elected by simple-majority popular vote for a single 5-year term; prime minister appointed by president wi
- th consent of the National Assembly most recent election date: 3 June 2025 (special snap election in the wake of the im
- peachment of former President YOON Suk-yeol) election results: 2025: LEE Jae-myung elected president; LEE Jae-myung (DPK) 49.4%, KIM Moon-soo (PPP) 41.2%, LEE Jun-seok (New Reform Party) 8.3% 2022: YOON Suk-yeol elected president; YOON Suk-yeol (PPP) 48.6%, LEE Jae-myung (DPK) 47.8%; other 3.6%
- expected date of next election: 2030
- note 1: the president is both chief of state and head of government; the prime minister serves as the principal executive assistant to the president,
- similar to the role of a vice president note 2: President LEE Jae-myung has nominated KIM Min Seok to replace Acting Prime Minister LEE
- Legislative Branch:
Description
unicameral National Assembly or Gukhoe (300 seats statutory, current 295; 253 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 47 directly elected in a single national constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)
Elections
last held on 15 April 2020 (next to be held on 10 April 2024)
Election Results
- percent of vote by party/coalition - DPK/Platform Party 49.9%, United Future Party 41.5%, JP 1.7%
- seats by party - DPK/Platform Party 180, United Future Party (now PPP) 103, JP 6, ODP 3, PP 3, independent 5
- composition as of April 2022 - men 242, women 57, percent of women 19.1%
- Judicial Branch:
- highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of a chief justice and 13 justices); Constitutional Court (consists of a
- court head and 8 justices) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the president with the consent of the National Assembly; other justices appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the chief justice and consent of the National Assembly; position of the chief justice is a 6-year nonrenewable term; other justices serve 6-year renewable terms; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 3 by the president, 3 by the National Assembly, and 3 by the Supreme Court chief justice; court head serves until retirement at age 70, while other justices serve 6-year renewable
- terms with mandatory retirement at age 65 subordinate courts: High Courts; District Courts; Branch Courts (organized under the District Courts); specialized courts for family and administrative issues
- Regions or States:
9 provinces (do, singular and plural), 6 metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi, singular and plural), 1 special city (teugbyeolsi), and 1 special self-governing city (teukbyeoljachisi) provinces: Chungcheongbuk-do (North Chungcheong), Chungcheongnam-do (South Chungcheong), Gangwon-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do (North Gyeongsang), Gyeonggi-do, Gyeongsangnam-do (South Gyeongsang), Jeju-do (Jeju), Jeollabuk-do (North Jeolla), Jeollanam-do (South Jeolla) metropolitan cities: Busan (Pusan), Daegu (Taegu), Daejeon (Taejon), Gwangju (Kwangju), Incheon (Inch'on), Ulsan special city: Seoul special self-governing city: Sejong
- Political Parties and Leaders:
- Basic Income Party [SHIN Ji-hye]
- Democratic Party of Korea or DPK [LEE Jae-myung] (renamed from Minjoo Party of Korea or MPK in October 2016)
- includes the former Open Democratic Party [CHOI Kong-wook], which merged with the DP in January 2022 and the Together Citizens' Party or Platform Party [WOO Hee-jong, CHOI Bae-geun], which merged with the DP in May 2022)
- Hope of Korea [Yang Hyang-ja]
- Justice Party or JP [LEE Jeong-mi]
- People Power Party or PPP [HAN Dong-hoon] (renamed from United Future Party in September 2020, formerly Liberty Korea Party)
- Transition Korea [CHO Jung-hun]
- Note: the DPK is South Korea’s largest party and its main progressive party; the People Power Party (PPP) is a conservative grouping and is South Korea’s second-largest party
- Suffrage:
- 18 years of age
- universal
- note - the voting age was lowered from 19 to 18 beginning with the 2020 national election
- Citizenship Criteria:
- no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent
- no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Capital & time
- Capital Name
Seoul; note - Sejong, located some 120 km (75 mi) south of Seoul, serves as an administrative capital for segments of the South Korean Government
- Capital - geographic coordinate
37 33 N, 126 59 E
- Capital Time Difference
UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
International role
- International Organization Participation:
ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, Arctic Council (observer), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CABEI, CD, CICA, CP, EAS, EBRD, FAO, FATF, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club (associate), PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNMOGIP, UNOCI, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
- International Law Organization Participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
- Diplomatic Representation from US:
chief of mission
Ambassador Philip S. GOLDBERG (since 29 July 2022) embassy: 188 Sejong-daero, Jongno-gu, Seoul mailing address: 9600 Seoul Place, Washington, DC 20521-9600
telephone
[82] (2) 397-4114
FAX
[82] (2) 397-4101
Email address and website
- seoulinfoACS@state.gov
- https://kr.usembassy.gov/
- Diplomatic Representation in the US:
chief of mission
Ambassador CHO Hyundong (since 19 April 2023)
chancery
2450 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone
[1] (202) 939-5600
FAX
[1] (202) 797-0595
Email address and website
- generalusa@mofa.go.kr
- https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-en/index.do
consulate(s) general
Anchorage (AK), Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas (TX), Hagatna (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC