The President is the head of state of

The President is the head of state of South Korea. Islamdin Umarov Nurmuhambet Issabekov Daniyar Beisenov 박성진

The President of the Republic of Korea (대 한 민 국 의 대 통 령 ) is, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, chief executive of the government, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the head of state of the Republic of Korea.

Rhee Syngman Yun Bo-seun Park Chung-hee 1948 - 1960 - 1962 -1979 Roh Tae Woo 1988 – 1993 Kim Young-sam 1993 - 1998 Kim Dae-jung 1998 - 2003 Choi Kyu-hah 1979 - 1980 Chun Doo-hwan 1980 - 1988 Roh Moo-hyun Lee Myung-bak 2003 - 2008 – present day

Syngman Rhee (Hangul: 이승만; Korean pronunciation: [i sɯŋman]; March 26, 1875 – July 19, 1965) was the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea as well as the first president of South Korea. His latter three-term presidency (August 1948 to April 1960) remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the Korean War. His presidency ended in resignation following popular protests against a disputed election. In 1896, he and other leaders formed the Independence Club, asserting Korea's right to independence from Japan. After earning a Ph. D. from Princeton in 1910, he returned to Korea and was elected president in 1919. Rhee oversaw the Korean War, resigned in 1960 (after protests against a disputed election) and died in exile in Hawaii in 1965. 1948 - 1960

Yun Bo-seon (Korea: 윤보선, Hanja: 尹潽善, August 26, 1897 – July 18, 1990) was a Korean former independence activist and politician, serving as President of South Korea from 1960 to 1962. Studying in the UK, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh and gained an M. A. , After returning home in 1932. After Gwangbokjeol he was South Korea's Secretary of Chief of Staff, Mayor of Seoul, 1949 to 1950 Commerce Minister, 1959 Supreme Council of the Democratic Party representative. In 1948, Yun was appointed by Rhee as mayor of Seoul. A year later, he was appointed as the Minister of Commerce and Industry. Soon, he started to disagree with Rhee's authoritarian policies. He then served as president of the Red Cross Society, before being elected to the National Assembly in 1954. A year later, he founded the opposition Democratic Party along with several others. 1959 Supreme Council of the Democratic Party representative. He died in Seoul in July 1990 aged 92 years old. 1960 - 1962

Park Chung-hee (September 30, 1917 – October 26, 1979) was a Republic of Korea Army general and the President of South Korea from 1962 to 1979. Park seized power in a 1961 military coup d'état and ruled as an unelected military strongman until his formal election as president in 1963, a post he held for 16 years until his assassination on October 26, 1979. While Park has been credited with the industrialization and rapid economic growth of South Korea through exportoriented industrialization, Park's legacy is accompanied with his dictatorship from his initial military coup d'état and subsequent constitutional amendments on the presidential term limit to remain in power. In 1999, Park was named by Time magazine as being one of the top ten "Asians of the Century". Today, Park's legacy is split between those who credit his role in rebuilding war-ravaged South Korea after the devastating Korean War and those who condemn his authoritarian policies, particularly those implemented after 1971. 1962 - 1979

Choi Kyu-hah (July 16, 1919– October 22, 2006) (also spelled Choi Kyu-ha) was the fourth President of South Korea between 1979 and 1980. He was born in Wonju, Gangwon Province. He served as foreign minister from 1967 to 1971 and as prime minister from 1975 to 1979. After the assassination of Park Chung-hee in 1979, then Prime Minister Choi became acting president; the Prime Minister stood first in line for the presidency under Article 48 of the Yusin Constitution. Due to the unrest resulting from Park's authoritarian rule, Choi promised democratic elections (the elections under Park were widely seen as rigged), as well as a new constitution to replace the highly authoritarian Yusin Constitution. Choi won an election in December that year to become the country's fourth president. In December 1979, Major General Chun Doo-hwan and close allies within the military staged a coup d'état against Choi's government. They quickly removed the army chief of staff and virtually controlled the government by early 1980. In April 1980, due to increasing pressure from Chun and other politicians, Choi appointed Chun as head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. Choi was forced to resign soon afterward, and Prime Minister Park Chung-hoon became acting president until Chun's election as president on September 1, 1980. After his resignation, Choi lived quietly out of the public eye and died on October 22, 2006. 1979 - 1980

Chun Doo-hwan (born 18 January 1931) is a retired ROK Army general who served as dictator of South Korea from 1979 to 1988, ruling as an unelected military strongman from December 1979 to September 1980, and the fifth President of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Chun clamped down on out-of-school tutoring and banned individual teaching or tutoring. Chun devoted his efforts to maintaining economic growth and political stability. South Korea continued its export-led economic growth under Chun, and the nation industrialized rapidly. The United States put pressure on the South Korean government to abandon its plans to develop nuclear weapons. In 1982, Chun announced the “Korean People Harmony Democracy Reunification Program”, but due to repeated rejections from North Korea the program was unable to get off the ground. Chun was sentenced to death in 1996 for his heavy-handed response to the Gwangju Democratization Movement, but later pardoned by President Kim Young-sam with the advice of then President-elect Kim Dae-jung, whom Chun himself had sentenced to death some 20 years earlier. 1980 - 1988

Roh Tae Woo, (born Dec. 4, 1932, near Taegu, Korea [now in South Korea]), Korean military officer and politician who, as president of South Korea (1988– 93), instituted democratic reforms. While a high-school student in Taegu (Daegu), Roh became friends with a fellow student, Chun Doo Hwan. As president, the moderate and conciliatory Roh committed himself to the democratization of South Korean politics. In foreign affairs, Roh’s government cultivated new ties with the Soviet Union (and later Russia) and China, obtained South Korea’s admission (1991) to the United Nations, and signed an agreement (1991) with North Korea calling for nonaggression between the two Koreas. In February 1993 he was succeeded by Kim Young Sam, whose subsequent anticorruption reforms targeted Roh and Chun. In October 1995 he subsequently was indicted and tried for corruption as well as for mutiny and sedition for his involvement in the 1979 coup (charges that had been leveled in 1994 but not pursued at that time). In August 1996 he was convicted on all counts; he was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison, which was later reduced to 17 years, and was fined about $300 million, a sum equivalent to the amount he was convicted of having taken illegally. Roh received a pardon in December 1997 from outgoing president Kim Young Sam and Presidentelect Kim Dae Jung. 1988 – 1993

Kim Young-sam (Hangul: 김영삼; born December 20, 1927) is a South Korean politician and democratic activist, who served as the 7 th President of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, he spent almost 30 years as one of the leaders of the South Korean opposition, and one the most powerful rivals to the authoritarian regimes of Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan. A member of the National Assembly from 1954 and president of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1974, he lost his seat and was later placed under house arrest because of his opposition to President Park Chung Hee. In 1983 he led a pro-democracy hunger strike but in 1987 failed to defeat Roh Tae-Woo in the presidential election. In 1990 he merged the ruling party to form the new Democratic Liberal Party (DLP). Kim was elected president in 1992, becoming the first civilian to hold the office in over 30 years. Kim Young-sam was inaugurated on February 25, 1993 and served a single five year term. He presided over a massive anti-corruption campaign, the arrest of his two predecessors, and an internationalization policy called Segyehwa. After his presidency, Kim went around the world, promoting democracy, speaking at events such as "Towards a Global Forum on New Democracies" in Taiwan in January 2007. 1993 - 1998

Kim Dae-jung (3 December 1925 – 18 August 2009) was 8 th President of the Republic of Korea from 1998 to 2003, and the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He came to be called the "Nelson Mandela of Asia" for his long-standing opposition to authoritarian rule. In December 1997, he was elected to the presidency, winning 40. 3 per cent of the votes. When he was inaugurated as the eighth President of the Republic of Korea, it marked the first transition of power from the ruling to the opposition party in Korea's modern history. Taking over the government in the midst of an unprecedented financial crisis, President Kim devoted himself to the task of economic recovery and managed to pull the country back from the brink of bankruptcy. Reforms and restructuring that began early in his Administration still continue. President Kim Dae-jung's vision for the Korean people led him to pursue a policy of engagement toward North Korea. He and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il worked together on a joint declaration they signed on June 15, 2000 paving the way for a brighter future for all Koreans and other peace-loving peoples of the world. 1998 - 2003

Roh Moo-hyun (Hangul: 노무현; ) GOM (6 August 1946 – 23 May 2009) was the 9 th President of the Republic of Korea (2003– 2008). Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea. . He achieved a large following among younger internet users, particularly at the website Oh. My. News, which aided his success in the presidential election. Despite high initial hopes, his presidency encountered strong opposition from the conservative Grand National Party and media. They constantly accused him of incompetence, and insulting criticism was frequently published in the media. As a result, many of Roh's policies, including a plan to move the capital, and a plan to form a coalition with the opposition, were also attacked and made no progress. After leaving office, Roh returned to his hometown of Bongha Maeul. The constantly growing numbers of visits by his political supporters were seen as a threat to the Grand National Party. Fourteen months later, Roh was suspected of bribery by prosecutors, and the subsequent investigation attracted public attention. This scandal, the collapse of the "Pro-Roh faction" of politicians, the collapse of the Uri Party and the defeat of its successor the Democratic Party in the National Assembly, and the defeat of Roh's designated successor in the presidential elections, marked a decline in the political fortunes of the 386 Generation that had brought Roh to power. Roh committed suicide on 23 May 2009 by jumping from a mountain cliff, after leaving a suicide note on his personal computer. His suicide was confirmed by police. 2003 - 2008

Lee Myung-bak (Hangul: 이명박; born 19 December 1941) is the 10 th President of South Korea. Prior to his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction and the mayor of Seoul. He is married to Kim Yoon-ok and has three daughters and one son. His older brother is Lee Sang-deuk, a South Korean politician. He attends the Somang Presbyterian Church. Lee is a graduate of Korea University and also received an honorary degree from Paris Diderot University on May 13, 2011. Lee altered the South Korean government's approach to North Korea, preferring a more hardline strategy in the wake of increased provocation from the North, but is also supportive of regional dialogue with Russia, China and Japan. Under Lee, South Korea has been increasing its visibility and influence in the global scene, resulting in the hosting of the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit. However, there remains significant controversy in Korea in regards to high profile government initiatives which have caused some factions to engage in civil opposition and protests against the incumbent government and President Lee's Saenuri Party (formerly the Grand National Party). [7] The reformist faction within the Saenuri Party is at odds against Lee Myung-bak 2008 – present day