Han Myeong-sook (; ; born March 24, 1944) is a South Korean politician who served as the

prime minister of South Korea The prime minister of the Republic of Korea () 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 appro ...

from 2006 to 2007. A former member of the

United New Democratic Party The Grand Unified Democratic New Party (GUDNP; ) was a political party of South Korea. It was formed out of the Uri Party and its resulting splinter groups. Chung Dong-young was the party's candidate in the 2007 South Korean presidential elec ...

(UNDP), she was South Korea's first female prime minister (second female prime minister overall if the acting premiership of Chang Sang is included). Born in modern-day

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

, Han graduated from

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's research university in Seoul, South Korea. It was originally founded as Ewha Haktang on May 31, 1886, by missionary Mary F. Scranton. Currently, Ewha Womans University is one of the world's largest f ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

with a degree in

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

. In 2000, she was elected as a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

for

Ilsan Ilsan New Town () refers to a planned city occupying Ilsandong District and Ilsanseo District of Goyang. Ilsan is located northwest of Seoul. Like other satellite cities in the Seoul National Capital Area such as Bundang, Ilsan was planned in o ...

-gab. She served as

Prime Minister of South Korea The prime minister of the Republic of Korea () 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 appro ...

under

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (, ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea from 2003 to 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

from 2006 until her resignation on March 7, 2007, to begin her presidential candidacy. After losing her party's nomination, Han ran for a seat in the National Assembly, but was ultimately defeated. However, in January 2012, she was elected leader of the

Democratic United Party The Democratic Party (DP; ), formerly the Democratic United Party (DUP; ) until 2013, was a Liberalism in South Korea, liberal political party in South Korea, and for the duration of its existence the country's main opposition force. On 15 De ...

(DUP) before the April legislative elections, in which they failed to defeat the ruling

Saenuri Party The Liberty Korea Party () was a conservative political party in South Korea that was described variously as right-wing, right-wing populist, or far-right. Until February 2017, it was known as the Saenuri Party (), and before that as the Hanna ...

. Han stepped down as party leader in April 2012. In August 2015, Han was convicted of receiving illegal donations and sentenced to two years in prison. She was granted special amnesty by the government and her constitutional rights were restored in 2021.

Pre-Prime Ministerial career

She was imprisoned from 1979 to 1981 after she confessed to teaching pro-

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

ideas to workers, farmers and low-income women, but it is now accepted she was imprisoned for pro-Democratic activities.South Korean President Nominates New Prime Minister
VOA News A government committee exonerated her of any wrongdoing in 2001, ruling her confession was elicited through

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

.South Korea Nominates First Female Prime Minister
The New York Times In 1999, she joined the National Congress for New Politics, and entered politics. In 2000, she was elected as a member of the 16th Korean National Assembly (for Proportional representation). In 2004, she ran for a member of the National Assembly in

Goyang Goyang (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's Satellite city, satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, w ...

and was elected. Han was the first Minister of

Gender Equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

, serving from 2001 to 2003. She served as the Minister of Environment from 2003 to 2004.Biography
Office of the Prime Minister

Appointment

On 24 March 2006, following the resignation of Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

nominated Han to become the first female Prime Minister of South Korea. Han is only the second woman to be nominated for the Prime Ministership. On 20 April 2006, Han Myeong-Sook was sworn in, becoming the first female

Prime Ministership

Libya-South Korea relations

Han visited

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

on 19 September 2006 and 20 September 2006.Airport Flag Used to Represent Korea
The Dong-A Ilbo

South Korea-United Arab Emirates relations

Han went to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

on 24 September and held high level talks with

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (; born 15 July 1949) is an Emirati politician and royal who is the current ruler of Dubai, and serves as the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, vice president and Prime Minister of the United Arab ...

. Han said she wanted to cultivate "the potential for bilateral cooperation in... trade, investment, IT and tourism." According to Han, "around 50 South Korean companies of global competitiveness have established headquarters of the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

region in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

." UAE companies invested $8 billion in South Korea from 2002 to 2006, but South Korea total investment in the UAE is only $25 million.S. Korea plans more UAE investments
Gulf News Han was interviewed by Gulf News in September 2006. She expressed a desire to increase South Korean investment in the UAE and sign a

Free Trade Agreement A free trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating state (polity), states. There are two types of trade agreements: Bilateralism, bilateral and Multilateralism, m ...

with the

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ), is a Regional integration, regional, intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Ba ...

. When asked about

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

in the UAE, she expressed interest in

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

women, and commended the fact that the "status of

women in Islam The experiences of Muslim women ( ''Muslimāt'', singular مسلمة ''Muslimah'') vary widely between and within different societies due to culture and values that were often predating Islam's introduction to the respective regions of the w ...

is a historic and religious outcome that is regulated by the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

and

Hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

." She pointed to the efforts of Sheikha

Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi (; born ) was the third wife of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder and inaugural president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She is referred to as the mother to the UAE and as the "Mother of the N ...

, the mother of the UAE, the appointment of Sheikha

Lubna Khalid Al Qasimi Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi (Arabic: لبنى بنت خالد بن سلطان القاسمي; born 4 February 1962) is an Emirati politician and member of the ruling family of Sharjah and the niece to Sheikh Sultan bin Muhamma ...

, the first appointment of a female minister, as the Minister of Economy, and the February 2006 appointment of Maryam Mohammed Khalfan Al Roumi as the Minister of Social Affairs as positive signs of the UAE's adapting to social changes. She rejected the idea of "imposing a U.S. or

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

-style democracy on the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

" saying, "the values of democracy are not to be imposed." Han expressed her friendship towards

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and her support for

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 is a resolution that was intended to resolve the 2006 Lebanon War. The resolution calls for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Hezbollah and other for ...

UNIFIL The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (; ), or UNIFIL (; ) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission established on 19 March 1978 by United Nations Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426, and several further resolutions in 2006 to con ...

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

's efforts at securing peace, and Foreign Minister Ban's candidacy to be the next Secretary General.

Kazakhstan-South Korea relations

Han met with Daniyal Akhmetov, the

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan The prime minister of Kazakhstan is the head of government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the holder of its fourth highest office, after the president of Kazakhstan, the chairman of Senate, and the chairman of Majilis. The prime minister hea ...

, on 23 September 2006 in

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. They signed several bilateral agreements enhancing economic ties. The

Government of South Korea The government of South Korea () is the national government of the Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution of South Korea as the executive, legislative and judicial authority of the republic. The president acts as the head of state and ...

agreed to invest an additional $2 billion in joint projects in the energy, uranium-extraction, construction, transportation, and banking sectors. Akhmetov offered South Korea the option of participating in developing a new type of

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

. South Korean investors have stakes in more than 300 Kazakhstan-based companies. Han was in Kazakhstan until 24 September. She then traveled to

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

.Kazakhstan, South Korea Vow To Boost Ties
BakuTODAY Han invited

Nazarbayev to visit South Korea in 2007 on behalf of President Roh, and on 25 September, after talking to Nazarbayev, she announced to the press that he had accepted and expressed hope that the trip would help to increase cooperation in the petrochemical industry, information technology and education.Kazakh Leader to Visit South Korea Next Year
Yahoo! Asia News

South Korea-Uzbekistan relations

Han and

Shavkat Mirziyoyev Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev (born 24 July 1957) is an Uzbek politician who has served as President of Uzbekistan and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan since 14 December 2016. Previously, Mirziyoyev led the gover ...

, the

Prime Minister of Uzbekistan This is a list of prime ministers of Uzbekistan (), from the establishment of the office in 1925 as the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Uzbek SSR to the present day. The current prime minister is Abdulla Aripov. He assumed the offi ...

, met in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

, Uzbekistan on 25 September 2006. They signed several agreements, including one deal in which Uzbekistan will send 300 tons of Uzbek

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

ore to South Korea every year from 2010 to 2014. The deal bypasses U.S. companies that acted previously as middlemen for South Korean imports of Uzbek uranium ore. Han also met with

Islam Karimov Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov (30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was an Uzbek politician who served as the first president of Uzbekistan, from the country's independence in 1991 until his death in 2016. He was the last First Secretary of the ...

and parliament speaker

Erkin Khalilov Erkin Khalilov is a politician from Uzbekistan and former legislative speaker from 1993 to 2008. Khalilov was born in 1955 in Navoi. He has a degree from Tashkent State University. Khalilov became deputy in the Supreme Council of Uzbekistan in ...

. Han and Mirziyoyev boosted cooperation in the energy, agriculture, construction, architecture, and information technology sectors. Trade between South Korea and Uzbekistan increased by nearly 40% between 2005 and 2006, to $565 million.South Korea, Uzbekistan Sign Uranium Deal
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

Resignation

Han resigned from her position as prime minister on March 7, 2007, amidst speculation that she would run in the December 2007 presidential elections. After the informal meeting with former justice minister

Kang Kum-Sil Kang Kum-Sil (; born February 12, 1957) is a South Korean politician and a lawyer, and also served as the minister of justice from February 2003 to July 2004. She was the ruling Uri Party mayoral candidate for Seoul (lost to Oh Se-hoon of Gran ...

just before her resignation, Han said she would continue as a legislator and think about running for president.

Post-Prime Ministerial career

In 2007, Han ran for the party presidential candidacy but did not succeed in the nominations. She endorsed

Chung Dong-young Chung Dong-young (; born 27 July 1953) is a South Korean politician who was the nominee of the United New Democratic Party in the 2007 South Korean presidential election. In June 2025, Chung was nominated to be South Korea's unification minist ...

. In 2008, she ran for re-election to parliament, but was defeated by a candidate of

Grand National Party The Liberty Korea Party () was a conservative political party in South Korea that was described variously as right-wing, right-wing populist, or far-right. Until February 2017, it was known as the Saenuri Party (), and before that as the Han ...

. In 2010, she declared to run for Seoul's Mayor position, but was very narrowly defeated by

Oh Se-hoon Oh Se-hoon (; born 4 January 1961) is a South Korean politician and lawyer who has served as the mayor of Seoul since 2021, an office he previously held from 2006 to 2011. A member of the People Power Party, he served as a member of the Nat ...

GNP The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total amount of factor incomes earned by the residents of a country. It is equal to gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes received from n ...

by less than one percentage point. On the first congress of the

on 15 January 2012, Han was voted chairwoman of the supreme council of the party with 24.5 per cent support rate. The liberal party was created by a merger of the Democratic Party with the minor Citizens Unity Party, and is South Korea's main oppositional force. Han was elected to parliament in the April legislative elections, but the liberals did not manage to oust the ruling party and Han stepped down as DUP head on 16 April 2012. For three months the leaders of the two major Korean parties were women: Park Geun-hye of the Grand National Party and Han Myeong-sook for the DUP.

References

External links

Official website of Korean Prime Minister
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Myeong-sook 1944 births Democratic Party of Korea politicians Ewha Womans University alumni Living people Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) People from Pyongyang Prime ministers of South Korea South Korean feminists South Korean politicians convicted of crimes 21st-century South Korean women politicians 21st-century South Korean politicians United New Democratic Party politicians 21st-century women prime ministers Women opposition leaders Cheongju Han clan Democratic Party (South Korea, 2000) politicians Heads of government who were later imprisoned Women government ministers of South Korea Environment ministers of South Korea Women members of the National Assembly (South Korea) South Korean people of North Korean origin