Lee Jae Myung

Lee Jae Myung (Korean: 이재명; pronounced [i.dʑɛ.mjʌŋ]; born c. 8 December 1963) is a South Korean politician and lawyer who has served as the 14th President of South Korea since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), he was the party's leader while serving as member of the National Assembly for Incheon Gyeyang B from 2022 to 2025. Lee previously served as Governor of Gyeonggi from 2018 to 2021 and as Mayor of Seongnam from 2010 to 2018.

Born into a poor family in Andong, instead of attending middle school, Lee began working at a Seongnam factory at an early age. There, an accident left him disabled. He earned middle and high school equivalency diplomas and graduated from Chung-Ang University with a law degree in 1986. As a human rights and labor lawyer, Lee worked with Minbyun to organize efforts advocating for opening a new hospital in Seongnam.

Lee entered politics in 2005 and ran in several elections without success. He was elected mayor of Seongnam in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. In 2017, he sought the DPK's presidential nomination but lost to Moon Jae-in. Lee resigned as mayor of Seongnam in 2018 to run for governor of Gyeonggi Province, won that race, and served until 2021. In 2022, he won his party's presidential nomination and narrowly lost the general election to Yoon Suk Yeol of the People Power Party (PPP).

Lee survived an assassination attempt in January 2024. In November, he was convicted under the Public Official Election Act for falsely denying a connection to Kim Moon-ki, a former Seongnam Development Corporation executive, during his 2022 presidential campaign. During the 2024 martial law crisis instigated by President Yoon Suk Yeol, Lee drew international attention after climbing over the National Assembly building fence and livestreaming the event. He helped lead the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, which led to the Constitutional Court of Korea removing Yoon from office. In the aftermath of Yoon's removal, Lee launched a third presidential bid in 2025, won the DPK nomination, and defeated the PPP candidate Kim Moon-soo in the presidential election.