Government and power in South Korea

Who leads South Korea, how the World Bank's governance indicators score it, how many women sit in parliament and government, what the state spends and taxes, and the official bodies that hold power to account. System of government: Unitary presidential republic.

Who leads South Korea?

• Head of state: Lee Jae Myung (President of the Republic of Korea)
• Head of government: Han Seong-sook (Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea)
• Foreign minister: Cho Hyun (Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea)

Source: Heads of State, Heads of Government, Ministers for Foreign Affairs: Public List (United Nations Protocol and Liaison Service), list dated 15 October 2026. All world leaders.

Governance scores

The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators combine surveys of households and firms with assessments by public, private and non-governmental bodies. Each score runs from 0 to 100; higher means the sources rate governance better. They measure perceptions, and each has a margin of error.

Voice and accountability

Measures how far citizens can choose their government, and freedom of expression, association and the media.

Political stability and absence of violence

Measures the likelihood of political instability or politically motivated violence, including terrorism.

Government effectiveness

Measures the quality of public services and the civil service, and how independent they are from political pressure.

Regulatory quality

Measures the government's ability to make and carry out policies that let the private sector develop.

Rule of law

Measures confidence in and respect for the rules of society, including contract enforcement, property rights, the police and the courts.

Control of corruption

Measures how far public power is used for private gain, including petty and grand corruption and "capture" of the state by elites.

Official bodies that hold power in South Korea

Government

• Office of the President
  Presidential briefings, speeches and policy announcements.
• Korea.net (Korean Culture and Information Service)
  Government policy briefings, press releases and news from ministries.

Parliament

• National Assembly of the Republic of Korea
  Bills, plenary minutes, committee information and members of the National Assembly.

Elections

• National Election Commission
  Election results, candidate information and political funds disclosures.

Courts

• Supreme Court of Korea
  Supreme Court rulings, judicial statistics and court information.
• Constitutional Court of Korea
  Decisions on constitutional complaints, impeachment and the constitutionality of laws.

Public audit

• Board of Audit and Inspection
  Audit and inspection results for government agencies and public institutions.

Ombudsman

• Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission
  Ombudsman decisions, anti-corruption policy and public-sector integrity assessments.

Access to information

• Information Disclosure Portal (Ministry of the Interior and Safety)
  An online portal for disclosure requests to public bodies, original documents released, and disclosure statistics.

Asset declarations

• Public Officials Ethics System
  Asset disclosures of senior public officials and related ethics information.

Laws and the official gazette

• National Law Information Center
  Current and historical Korean statutes, enforcement decrees, ordinances and case law, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation.
• Official Gazette (Gwanbo)
  The official gazette of the Republic of Korea publishing promulgated laws, decrees and notices.

Government below the national level

• Upper-level local governments (17): 1 special city (Seoul), 6 metropolitan cities, 1 special self-governing city (Sejong), 6 provinces, 3 special self-governing provinces (Jeju, Gangwon, Jeonbuk): Mayor or governor and council directly elected for four years; superintendent of education also directly elected
• Lower-level local governments (226): cities (si), counties (gun), autonomous districts (gu): Mayor/county head/district head and council directly elected for four years
• Eup, myeon, dong (about 3,500): Heads are civil servants appointed by the city, county or district head
• Tong, ri and ban (neighbourhood units): Tong head (tongjang), ri head (ijang) and ban head (banjang) are local residents appointed under municipal ordinances and rules by the head of the eup, myeon or dong, often after local recommendation

How local power works in South Korea

Places in South Korea

• All 17 provinces
• The 36 largest cities
• Official statistics for South Korea

Sources

• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Voice and accountability (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 70f2804fd1e2…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Political stability and absence of violence (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1317de0c85e1…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Government effectiveness (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a775e808dc65…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Regulatory quality (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 83b57e36ff8c…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Rule of law (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0bccc3c054e8…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Control of corruption (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 3b15a5340cdd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Seats held by women in national parliament (SG.GEN.PARL.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1ae1dc13981a…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Women in ministerial positions (SG.GEN.MNST.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a4e448a5b8bd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Central government spending (GC.XPN.TOTL.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 808094019f50…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Tax revenue (GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08c94b750f31…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Military spending (MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a7f6913a783b…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Armed forces personnel (MS.MIL.TOTL.P1), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fa4663c743ba…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Statistical Performance Indicator (overall score) (IQ.SPI.OVRL), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08ac7cde9129…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: People using the internet (IT.NET.USER.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0d78dc658329…)

Each saved copy is the file exactly as downloaded, kept so the figures can be checked even if the source changes. Report an error.