Lee Jae-myung Sworn In as South Korea’s President Following Yoon Suk-yeol’s Impeachment and Removal
Lee Jae-myung took office on June 4, 2025, following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol. The new administration has advanced trade, security, and domestic reforms.
yna.co.krLee Jae-myung was sworn in as president of South Korea on June 4, 2025, at the National Assembly in Seoul. He succeeded former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was impeached and removed from office after declaring martial law in December 2024. The United States reduced its reciprocal tariff rate on South Korean imports from 25 percent to 15 percent.
President Donald Trump had announced the original 25 percent tariff plan in August 2025. The two leaders held summits in Washington in August 2025 and in Gyeongju, South Korea, on October 29, 2025. South Korea pledged a US$350 billion investment in the United States as part of the agreement.
The United States also approved Seoul's pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines. President Lee Jae-myung held six bilateral meetings with Japanese leaders in less than a year. He met Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in June 2025 and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi three times, including a summit in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on May 19, 2026.
Takaichi took office in October 2025. Lee visited Japan in January 2026, and Takaichi visited South Korea last week. The Lee government approved legislation mandating special counsel investigations into former President Yoon Suk-yeol, other former officials, and corruption allegations surrounding Yoon's wife Kim Keon-hee.
Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment on insurrection charges in February. Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo received a 15-year prison term for his role in the martial law imposition. The National Assembly passed a government restructuring bill that abolishes the prosecution service.
The law takes effect in September and replaces the prosecution service with a new public prosecution office that will only initiate and maintain indictments. Investigative authority will move to a new serious crime investigation office under the interior ministry. Exports reached 89 billion in April, more than 50 percent higher than a year earlier, after 6 billion the previous month.
The consumer sentiment index rose 15 points on May 29, 2026, and has more than tripled in one year under the Lee administration. 6 percentage point from its February prediction, the largest revision since May 2021. 9 percent if the AI-driven semiconductor upcycle ends earlier than expected.
President Lee Jae-myung held a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit on November 1, 2025. S. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said in a recent interview with Yonhap that there are no visible signs of North Korea returning to dialogue.
He added that Seoul has conveyed its willingness to engage through Singapore and believes North Korea will eventually respond to efforts to ease tensions. President Lee Jae-myung told a Cabinet meeting earlier this month that it is difficult to sufficiently guarantee the current level of South Korea's democracy, the people's living conditions and the country's future under the current Constitution.
He said it may be practical to pursue partial constitutional changes in phases if necessary.
Transparency
21 core facts confirmed by 2+ independent outlets, though all from one ideological lane. 4 single-source, 0 disputed.
Corroborating outlets share one lane and are mostly lower-tier — treat as weakly verified.
2 outlets classified · 0 left · 2 center · 0 right. Coverage drawn from a single ideological lane.
- Yonhap reported: North Korea revised its constitution to remove references to unification with South Korea and characterizes the relationship as between two hostile states.
- yna.co.kr reported: Working-level negotiations between South Korea and the United States on nuclear-powered submarines, uranium enrichment, and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing are pending.
- yna.co.kr reported: Discussions on the transfer of wartime operational control from the United States to South Korea face differing views on timing and process.
- Yonhap reported: South Korea conveyed willingness to engage in dialogue with North Korea via Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
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