National Assembly (South Korea) in the context of 2024 South Korean legislative election

The prime minister of the Republic of Korea (Korean: 국무총리) is the deputy head of government and the second highest political office of South Korea. The prime minister is appointed by the president of the Republic of Korea, with the National Assembly's approval. The prime minister may be a member of the National Assembly, but this is not required to hold the office.

Unlike prime ministers of parliamentary democracies, the prime minister of South Korea is not the head of government of South Korea but a senior member of the cabinet, since the president is both the head of state and head of government in the country. The prime minister is the principal executive assistant to the president, and is first in the order of succession; the prime minister assumes the presidency in acting capacity, upon the removal or incapacitation of the sitting president, similar to the vice president of the United States.

The 2024 South Korean martial law crisis was a political crisis in South Korea triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law. On 3 December 2024, at 22:27 Korea Standard Time (KST), Yoon, then the president of South Korea, announced the imposition of martial law during a televised address. In his speech, he accused the Democratic Party (DPK), which held a majority in the National Assembly, of engaging in "anti-state activities" and collaborating with "North Korean communists" to undermine the country, describing their dominance as a "legislative dictatorship". The declaration suspended political activities, including sessions of the National Assembly and local legislatures, and imposed restrictions on the press. Reports also indicated that Yoon ordered the arrest of several political opponents, including leaders of both the DPK and his own People Power Party (PPP). The move was broadly characterised by both domestic and international media, as well as by South Korean political figures, as an attempted self-coup by Yoon to rule by decree and to reimpose full authoritarianism on the country for the first time since the June Democratic Struggle.

The declaration was opposed by both parties and resulted in protests. At 01:02 on 4 December, 190 legislators who had arrived at the National Assembly Proceeding Hall unanimously passed a motion to lift martial law, despite attempts by the Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command to prevent the vote. At 04:30, Yoon and his cabinet lifted martial law and soon disbanded the Martial Law Command. The opposition subsequently began impeachment proceedings against Yoon and said it would continue to do so if he did not resign. Uproar over the declaration has led to the resignation of several officials in Yoon's administration, including Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who urged Yoon to enact martial law during a last-minute cabinet meeting shortly before the declaration and was second-in-command of the martial law order. Yoon, as well as other officials of his administration, and military officers were investigated for their role in the implementation of the decree.

On 14 December 2024, Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, was impeached by the National Assembly following the passage of an impeachment bill with 204 of the 300 members voting in favor. This action came in response to Yoon's declaration of martial law on 3 December 2024.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo assumed the role of acting president pending the Constitutional Court's decision on whether to accept the impeachment. Han was himself impeached on 27 December 2024, and first deputy prime minister Choi Sang-mok became acting president. On 24 March 2025, Han was acquitted by the Constitutional Court and returned to the role of acting president.

The Third Republic of Korea (Korean: 제3공화국; RR: Je sam gonghwaguk; lit. "Third Republic") was the government of South Korea from 17 December 1963 to 21 November 1972. The Third Republic was founded on the dissolution of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction that overthrew the Second Republic and established a military government in May 1961. Park Chung Hee, the Chairman of the Supreme Council, was elected President of South Korea in the 1963 presidential election.

The Third Republic was presented as a return to civilian government under the National Assembly but in practice was a dictatorship under Park, Supreme Council members, and the Democratic Republican Party. The Third Republic prioritized South Korea's economic development, anti-communism, and strengthening ties with the United States and Japan.

The Fourth Republic of Korea (Korean: 제4공화국; RR: Je sa Gonghwaguk; lit. "Fourth Republic") was the government of South Korea from November 1972 to February 1981.

The Fourth Republic was founded on the approval of the Yushin Constitution in the 1972 constitutional referendum, codifying the de facto dictatorial powers held by President Park Chung Hee, and succeeding the Third Republic. Park and his Democratic Republican Party ruled under the centralized and authoritarian Yushin System until the assassination of Park on 26 October 1979. The Fourth Republic entered a period of political instability under Park's successor, Choi Kyu-hah, and the escalating martial law declared after Park's death. Choi was unofficially overthrown by Chun Doo-hwan in the coup d'état of December Twelfth in December 1979, and began the armed suppression of the Gwangju Uprising against martial law. Chun launched the coup d'état of May Seventeenth in May 1980, establishing a military dictatorship under the National Council for Reunification and dissolving the National Assembly, and was elected president by the council in the August 1980 presidential election. The Fourth Republic was dissolved on the adoption of a new constitution in March 1981 and replaced with the Fifth Republic of Korea.

The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK or DP; Korean: 더불어민주당, lit. 'Together Democratic Party') is a liberal political party in South Korea. The DPK and its rival, the People Power Party (PPP), form the two major political parties of South Korea. Since the 2025 presidential election, it is the ruling party, having held a majority in the National Assembly since 2020.

The Democratic Party was founded as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) on 26 March 2014 as a merger between the previous Democratic Party and the preparatory committee of the New Political Vision Party (NPVP) led by Ahn Cheol-soo. The party changed its name to the current name on 28 December 2015. In the 2016 legislative election, the party won a plurality of seats in the National Assembly, becoming the largest party in the National Assembly. In 2017, the Democratic Party presidential candidate Moon Jae-in was elected as the president of South Korea. In 2020, the party won an absolute majority of seats in the National Assembly. In 2022, the Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung lost the election to PPP candidate Yoon Suk Yeol. Later that year, the Democratic Party, Open Democratic Party, and New Wave merged to form a big tent party. The party retained its majority in the 2024 legislative election. In 2025, after the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, the Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung was elected as the president of South Korea.

The People Power Party (PPP; Korean: 국민의힘; lit. Power of Nationals) is a conservative and right-wing political party in South Korea. It is the second-largest party in the National Assembly. The PPP, along with its historic rival the Democratic Party, make up the two largest political parties in South Korea.

The PPP was founded as the United Future Party (UFP) on 17 February 2020 through the merger of the Liberty Korea Party, New Conservative Party, and Onward for Future 4.0, as well as several minor parties and political organizations. It contested the 2020 legislative election together with its satellite party, the Future Korea Party; the alliance achieved the worst conservative result since 1960. The party renamed to the People Power Party on 31 August 2020. It achieved electoral success in the 2021 by-elections. In 2022, PPP presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol was elected as the president of South Korea, followed by PPP victories in the 2022 local elections. Due to the unpopularity of the Yoon administration, the party lost the 2024 legislative election. Yoon declared martial law in December 2024, prompting his impeachment. In 2025, PPP candidate Kim Moon-soo lost the presidential election to Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae Myung, returning PPP to the opposition.

Park Geun-hye (/ˈpɑːrk ˌɡʊn ˈheɪ/; Korean: 박근혜 [pak‿k͈ɯn.hje] ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until her removal from office in 2017. A member of Saenuri during her presidency and the eldest daughter of Park Chung Hee, she was the first woman in the country and the first in East Asia to be elected as head of state. Park previously served as the first lady of South Korea under her father's presidency from 1974 until her father's assassination in 1979.

Born in Daegu, Park graduated from Sogang University in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering. Before her presidency, Park was leader of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) from 2004 to 2006 and leader of the Liberty Korea Party from 2011 to 2012. She was also a member of the National Assembly, serving four consecutive parliamentary terms between 1998 and 2012. Park started her fifth term as a representative elected via national list in June 2012. In 2013 and 2014, Park ranked 11th on the Forbes list of the world's 100 most powerful women and the most powerful woman in East Asia. In 2014, she ranked 46th on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful people, the third-highest South Korean on the list, after Lee Kun-hee and Lee Jae-yong.