Yoon Suk Yeol

In this Korean name, the family name is Yoon.

His Excellency
Yoon Suk Yeol
윤석열
Official portrait, 2022
13th President of South Korea
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 May 2022
Prime Minister
Preceded byMoon Jae-in
Prosecutor General of South Korea
In office
25 July 2019 – 4 March 2021
PresidentMoon Jae-in
Preceded byMoon Moo-il
Succeeded byKim Oh-soo
Personal details
Born (1960-12-18) 18 December 1960 (age 63)
Seoul, South Korea
Political partyPeople Power (2021–present)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (before 2021)
Spouse
​
(m. 2012)​
Parent
ResidencePresidential residence
EducationSeoul National University (LLB, LLM)
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionLawyer
ReligionRoman Catholicism (Christian name: Ambrose)[1]
Signature
NicknameGyong (굥)[2]
Korean name
Hangul
윤석열
Hanja
尹錫悅
Revised RomanizationYun Seokyeol
McCune–ReischauerYun Sŏgyŏl
IPAKorean pronunciation: [jun.sʰʌ̹ŋ.ɲ̟ʌ̹ɭ / jun.sʰʌ̹.ɟʌ̹ɭ][a]
Yoon Suk-yeol's voice
Yoon Suk Yeol speaks on U.S.-South Korean relations
Recorded April 27, 2023

Yoon Suk Yeol[a] (Korean: 윤석열; born 18 December 1960) is a South Korean politician and attorney who has been the 13th (20th presidency) president of South Korea since 2022. A member of the People Power Party, he served from 2019 to 2021 as the prosecutor general of South Korea under his presidential predecessor, Moon Jae-in. Yoon passed the bar exam on his 9th attempt.

Born in Seoul, Yoon attended Seoul National University. In his capacity as chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office, he played a key role in convicting former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak of abuse of power.[4][5][6] President Moon appointed Yoon prosecutor general of South Korea in 2019. During Yoon's leadership, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office conducted embattled investigations into Cho Kuk, an influential figure in the Moon administration, that led to Cho's resignation as minister of justice.[7][8] Yoon's clashes with the Moon administration until he resigned as prosecutor general in March 2021 led to his rise as a prominent presidential candidate among conservative voters ahead of the 2022 presidential election.

In June 2021, Yoon announced his candidacy in the 2022 South Korean presidential election. He joined the right-wing People Power Party (PPP) in July and won its nomination in November. Considered conservative and economically liberal, Yoon ran on a platform promising economic deregulation and measures such as abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. He narrowly defeated Democratic Party nominee Lee Jae-myung on 9 March 2022 and assumed office as president on 10 May. In doing so, he became the first person elected president to be born after the end to fighting in the Korean War. Yoon's foreign policy has been described as hawkish toward North Korea and friendlier to Japan than that of previous South Korean presidents.

As president, Yoon has received mostly low approval ratings. The 2022 Seoul Halloween crowd crush[9] and 2024 South Korean medical crisis occurred during his administration, with the latter still ongoing.[10] Critics have alleged that, under Yoon, South Korea has been experiencing democratic backsliding. He has been accused of overusing his veto power and favoring far right political pundits and historical figures. His party lost in a landslide in the 2024 parliamentary elections, and his power has since been evaluated as significantly weakened since.

  1. ^ 윤석열 후보자 정보 대선2022. JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  2. ^ 정남구 (8 January 2023). "'윤'과 '굥'…서울교통'굥'사 소동 [유레카]". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  3. ^ 박창원 (13 April 2021). 윤석열, '윤서결' 혹은 '윤성녈'. Kyungbuk Maeil [ko]. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Who is Yoon Seok-youl, South Korea's conservative candidate for president?". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  5. ^ Shin, Hyonhee (5 November 2021). "S.Korea's ex-top prosecutor to challenge Moon's party in 2022 presidential election". Reuters. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  6. ^ Shin, Mitch (5 November 2021). "Yoon Suk-yeol Wins People Power Party's Presidential Primary". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  7. ^ Gibson, Jenna (16 October 2019). "South Korea's Cho Kuk Saga Ends". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  8. ^ Gibson, Jenna (10 December 2020). "South Korea's Prosecution Reform Saga Heads Toward Final Showdown". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Thousands attend candlelight vigils for Halloween disaster victims across South Korea". ABC News. 6 November 2022. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Tenacious or stubborn? Yoon's medical reform plan faces crisis". The Korea Times. 7 September 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.


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