Who Is Lee Jae Myung? Biography, Age, Political Career, Family and Presidency
Lee Jae Myung is a South Korean lawyer and politician who has served as the country’s 14th president since June 4, 2025. A member of the Democratic Party of Korea, he began working in factories as a child and went on to become mayor of Seongnam, governor of Gyeonggi Province and party leader. He won the presidency in a snap election held after Yoon Suk Yeol’s removal from office. His time in office has brought diplomatic activity and falling approval ratings, and his earlier criminal cases remain paused while he serves.
Table of Contents
- Who Is Lee Jae Myung? Biography, Age, Political Career, Family and Presidency
- Who Is Lee Jae Myung?
- How Old Is Lee Jae Myung?
- Early Life and Education
- How Did Lee Jae Myung Start His Career?
- Mayor of Seongnam and Governor of Gyeonggi
- Presidential Bids and Political Setbacks
- Lee Jae Myung’s Presidency
- Criticism and Legal Cases
- Lee Jae Myung’s Personal Life and Family
- Lee Jae Myung’s Assets
- What Is Lee Jae Myung Doing Now?
- Lee Jae Myung’s Legacy and Influence
- Frequently Asked Questions About Lee Jae Myung
Who Is Lee Jae Myung?
Lee has spent his career in the center-left of Korean politics, with a platform built around what he calls “Transformative and Fair Growth.” He describes his core philosophy with a Korean phrase meaning to restrain the strong and help the weak. He is known for experiments in direct cash support, such as youth dividends and basic-income-style programs, and for using social media to speak to voters directly. He asked foreign outlets to use his legal spelling, “Lee Jae Myung,” without a hyphen, after he took office.
How Old Is Lee Jae Myung?
His official birth date is December 22, 1964, which makes him 61 as of October 2026. Many accounts, including Wikipedia, say he was probably born around December 8, 1963, because his father registered the birth late and chose the recorded date. Official government material uses the 1964 date, so this article does too.
Early Life and Education
Lee was born in Andong, in North Gyeongsang Province, the fifth of seven children in a poor family. After elementary school, the family moved to Seongnam, a planned industrial city near Seoul, and he worked in factories instead of attending middle school. He was injured twice on the job. The second accident crushed his wrist and left him with a permanent arm disability, and he was later exempted from military service.
He studied for equivalency exams, passing the middle school test in 1978 and the high school test in 1981. He entered Chung-Ang University’s law school on a scholarship, graduated in 1986 and passed the bar exam the same year. He later earned a master’s degree in public administration from Gachon University. A lecture by Roh Moo-hyun, the future president, pushed him toward human rights and labor law instead of a judgeship or a prosecutor’s post.
How Did Lee Jae Myung Start His Career?
Lee opened a law practice in Seongnam and worked with the lawyers’ group Minbyun on labor and human rights cases. In 1995 he helped found the Seongnam Citizens’ Association. He became known locally for a campaign to build a public hospital after two general hospitals closed. A petition with about 200,000 signatures went to the city council, which rejected the ordinance in under a minute. Lee has said that defeat convinced him that activism alone could not change policy, and he joined the Uri Party in 2005. He lost the 2006 Seongnam mayoral race and a 2008 National Assembly race before winning the mayoralty in 2010.
Mayor of Seongnam and Governor of Gyeonggi
As mayor from 2010 to 2018, Lee won re-election in 2014 and introduced free school uniforms and a “youth dividend” that paid cash support to young residents. He also moved to close dog-slaughter facilities at Moran Market. He became governor of Gyeonggi Province, which has more than 13 million people, in 2018, winning with about 56% of the vote. His handling of the early COVID-19 outbreak drew praise, including his confrontation with the Shincheonji church over contact tracing. Critics said he skipped most national disease-control meetings, and he replied that he used his time on more urgent local work.
Presidential Bids and Political Setbacks
Lee placed third in the Democratic Party’s 2017 primary. In 2021 he won the nomination and, in March 2022, lost the general election to Yoon Suk Yeol, 47.83% to 48.56%, one of the narrowest margins in Korean history. He won a National Assembly seat in a June 2022 by-election and became party leader that August. A knife attack in Busan on January 2, 2024, wounded him in the neck, and he recovered after surgery.
On the night of December 3, 2024, when Yoon declared martial law, Lee livestreamed himself climbing the Assembly fence to join the vote against the order. The Assembly impeached Yoon on December 14, and the Constitutional Court later removed him. Lee resigned as party leader in April 2025, won the party primary and defeated Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party in the June 3 election, 49.42% to 41.15%.
Lee Jae Myung’s Presidency
Lee was sworn in on June 4, 2025, and nominated Kim Min-seok as prime minister. His government’s early moves included a cash-voucher program funded at 15.2 trillion won, caps on housing-backed loans in the Seoul area, amendments to the Commercial Act to strengthen minority shareholders and a 150 trillion won National Growth Fund. The 2026 budget agreed with the opposition raised the corporate tax rate by one percentage point to 25%. He moved the presidential workplace back to Cheong Wa Dae in December 2025.
In foreign policy, he made Japan his first bilateral destination and met Donald Trump in Washington in August 2025 and again when Trump visited Korea that October. He hosted Xi Jinping in October 2025 and visited China in January 2026, saying Korea should not be forced to pick sides between Washington and Beijing. On North Korea, he halted loudspeaker broadcasts across the border in June 2025, and North Korea’s response was dismissive.
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Criticism and Legal Cases
Lee’s legal record is one of the most contested parts of his career. In November 2024, a Seoul court gave him a suspended one-year sentence for making false statements in the 2022 campaign. An appeals court overturned that in March 2025, the Supreme Court reversed the acquittal on May 1 and sent the case back, and the Seoul High Court postponed the retrial indefinitely on June 9, 2025. Courts have also suspended his other trials, which include corruption charges tied to Seongnam development projects and a case over money sent to North Korea. Lee denies the charges and calls them politically motivated, while his critics say a president should not be shielded from trial. Courts and constitutional scholars have debated whether Article 84 of the Constitution covers trials already under way.
His approval ratings have also fallen. Polls in April 2026 showed approval near 70% in some surveys, but Gallup Korea put it at 37% on October 9, with disapproval at 51%. Housing policy, a cabinet reshuffle and withdrawn minister nominees have been cited as factors, along with the fallout from the June local elections.
Lee Jae Myung’s Personal Life and Family
Lee married Kim Hea Kyung in March 1991 after meeting her on a blind date in 1990. She is a pianist and has said she prefers to stay out of public view. They have two sons. Lee has described himself as a Protestant.
Lee Jae Myung’s Assets
Lee reported assets of 4.97 billion won (about $3.7 million) as of the end of 2025, up by about 1.88 billion won, with book royalties cited as a main driver. That is a public ethics disclosure rather than a market valuation of his wealth.
What Is Lee Jae Myung Doing Now?
On October 19, he told reporters his government was considering more steps to steady the stock market, warned of a possible property crisis and repeated his commitment to an early transfer of wartime operational control from the United States. On October 28, he cautioned against “irresponsible extremism” that could undermine prosecution reform, saying all-or-nothing demands could wreck effective reform.
Lee Jae Myung’s Legacy and Influence
Lee’s path from child factory worker to president is the foundation of his political identity, and supporters point to his local-government record as proof that his ideas can be implemented. His term is still unfolding, and its legacy will depend on housing, relations with Washington and Beijing, prosecution reform and how his unresolved court cases are eventually handled.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lee Jae Myung
Who is Lee Jae Myung?
He is the 14th president of South Korea, in office since June 4, 2025, and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea.
How old is Lee Jae Myung?
His official birth date is December 22, 1964, so he is 61. Some accounts say he was born around December 8, 1963.
Where is Lee Jae Myung from?
He was born in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, and grew up in Seongnam.
What did Lee Jae Myung do before becoming president?
He was a human rights and labor lawyer, mayor of Seongnam, governor of Gyeonggi Province and leader of the Democratic Party.
Is Lee Jae Myung married?
Yes. He has been married to Kim Hea Kyung since 1991, and they have two sons.
What is Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating?
Gallup Korea measured 37% on October 9, 2026, with 51% disapproving. Other pollsters differ.
