List of presidents of South Korea by time in office

This is a list of presidents of South Korea by time in office. The basis of the list is the difference between dates; if counted by number of calendar days all the figures would be one greater.

Rank by time in office

Key:

Dead

Living

Incumbent

Rank	No.	President	Assumed office	Left office	Length of term	Notes
1	3rd	Park Chung Hee	24 March 1962	26 October 1979	17 years, 216 days	Served 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th terms, died in office
2	1st	Rhee Syng-man	24 July 1948	26 April 1960	11 years, 277 days	Served 1st, 2nd, and 3rd terms, resigned
3	5th	Chun Doo-hwan	1 September 1980	24 February 1988	7 years, 176 days	Served 11th and 12th terms
4	6th	Roh Tae-woo	5 February 1988	24 February 1993	4 years, 365 days^[1]	Served 13th term
4	10th	Lee Myung-bak	25 February 2008	24 February 2013	4 years, 365 days^[1]	Served 17th term
6	7th	Kim Young-sam	25 February 1993	24 February 1998	4 years, 364 days	Served 14th term
	8th	Kim Dae-jung	25 February 1998	24 February 2003	4 years, 364 days	Served 15th term
	9th	Roh Moo-hyun	25 February 2003	24 February 2008	4 years, 364 days^[2]	Served 16th term
	12th	Moon Jae-in	10 May 2017	9 May 2022	4 years, 364 days	Served 19th term
10	11th	Park Geun-hye	25 February 2013	10 March 2017	4 years, 13 days^[3]	Served 18th term, impeached and removed from office
11	13th	Yoon Suk Yeol	10 May 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 223 days^[4]	Serving 20th term, currently being impeached
12	2nd	Yun Bo-seon	13 August 1960	24 March 1962	1 year, 223 days	Served 4th term, resigned
13	4th	Choi Kyu-hah	26 October 1979	16 August 1980	295 days	Served 10th term, resigned

Notes

^ ^a ^b Roh and Lee served one day longer than other one-term presidents because they each served during two leap years while other one-term presidents served during only one leap year. This is also why their services of 4 years, 365 days did not equal 5 years
^ Suspended March 12, 2004 – May 14, 2004, Acting President: Goh Kun
^ Suspended December 9, 2016 – March 10, 2017, Acting President: Hwang Kyo-ahn
^ Suspended since December 14, 2024, Acting President: Han Duck-soo

[leap-1] Roh and Lee served one day longer than other one-term presidents because they each served during two leap years while other one-term presidents served during only one leap year. This is also why their services of 4 years, 365 days did not equal 5 years

[2] Suspended March 12, 2004 – May 14, 2004, Acting President: Goh Kun

[3] Suspended December 9, 2016 – March 10, 2017, Acting President: Hwang Kyo-ahn

[4] Suspended since December 14, 2024, Acting President: Han Duck-soo

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Rank by time in office

See also

Notes