South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has chosen Han Seongsook, the country’s minister for small and midsize businesses and startups, to be prime minister, the presidential office said on Sunday.
If approved by parliament, Han would become South Korea’s first female prime minister in 20 years.
Han, who previously served as chief executive of South Korean internet giant Naver, is expected to lead the country’s AI transformation, South Korea’s presidential chief of staff, Kang Hoon-sik, said at a press briefing.
“Han will be able to transform South Korea’s economic growth – driven by the semiconductor boom and rising exports – into inclusive growth that reaches everyone, including small and medium-sized enterprises,” Kang said.
The role of the prime minister is largely ceremonial and administrative under South Korea’s presidential system.
Han will succeed Kim Min-seok as South Korea’s prime minister. Kim served as the first prime minister of the Lee administration from July 2025 until his resignation in June.
Additionally, former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, a veteran politician and a significant figure in South Korea’s journey toward democracy, passed away this year in Janunary during an official visit to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, as confirmed by both governments.
Lee, 73, died on Sunday after emergency medical aid for a heart attack, a South Korean presidential advisory panel said in a statement.
“The country has lost a great mentor in the history of our democracy,” President Lee Jae Myung said. “He dedicated his life to protecting and growing democratic values through our turbulent modern history.”
Lee spearheaded government reform as prime minister from 2004 to 2006. The seven-term former member of parliament had started as a student activist who was jailed in the 1970s for leading a democracy movement.
