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Lee Ju-ho

For a South Korean swimmer, see Lee Ju-ho (swimmer).
In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.

His Excellency
Lee Ju-ho
이주호
Lee in 2025
Acting President of South Korea
In office
2 May 2025 – 4 June 2025
Prime MinisterHimself (acting)
Preceded byHan Duck-soo (acting)
Succeeded byLee Jae Myung
Acting Prime Minister of South Korea
In office
2 May 2025 – 3 July 2025
PresidentHimself (acting)
Lee Jae Myung
DeputyHimself
Preceded byHan Duck-soo
Succeeded byKim Min-seok
Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Education
In office
7 November 2022 – 29 July 2025
Prime MinisterHan Duck-soo
Choi Sang-mok (acting)
Han Duck-soo
Himself (acting)
Kim Min-seok
Preceded byPark Soon-ae
Succeeded byChoi Kyo-jin
Minister of Education, Science and Technology
In office
31 August 2010 – 11 March 2013
PresidentLee Myung-bak
Park Geun-hye
Preceded byAhn Byong-man
Succeeded bySeo Nam-soo
Personal details
Born (1961-02-17) 17 February 1961 (age 64)
Chilgok County, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Grand National Party
SpousePark Eun-jin
EducationSeoul National University (BA, MA)
Cornell University (PhD)
Korean name
Hangul
이주호
Hanja
李周浩
RRI Juho
MRI Chuho

Lee Ju-ho (Korean: 이주호; born 17 February 1961)[1] is a South Korean economist who served as the acting president of South Korea from May to June 2025 and acting prime minister of South Korea from May to July 2025. He has also served as the deputy prime minister and education minister from 2022 to 2025.[2]

He is a professor at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management.[1] From 1 May 2025 to 4 June 2025, after the impeachment of president Yoon Suk Yeol, resignation of prime minister Han Duck-soo, and subsequent resignation of minister of economy Choi Sang-mok, Lee was the acting President of South Korea, acting Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Education concurrently.[3]

Early life

[edit]

Lee Joo-ho was born in Chilgok County, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea on 17 February 1961.[1]

Lee holds three degrees in economics – a bachelor's and a master's from Seoul National University and a doctorate from Cornell University.[4]

Early political career

[edit]

He served as a Korea Development Institute professor before entering the 17th National Assembly as a proportional representative in 2004.[5] In January 2009, he served as the First Vice Minister of Education, Science and Technology in the Lee Myung-bak government, and as Minister in 2010, serving in that role until 2013.[6] He was appointed as Minister once more in 2022 in the Yoon Suk Yeol government.[3]

As minister, Lee oversaw several key education changes. He established the Neulbom School program, which provided free after-school care to young elementary students, and oversaw efforts to increase medical school enrollment by 2,000 seats, which ultimately failed. He also advocated for the use of digital textbooks, particularly artificial intelligence-based textbooks introduced this school year.[3]

Acting presidency and premiership (2025)

[edit]

On 2 May 2025, Lee ascended to the presidency and the premiership,[3] which came after the sudden resignations of the previous acting president and prime minister, Han Duck-soo and the deputy prime minister, Choi Sang-mok.[7] As acting president, Lee directed the military to elevate its preparedness posture to the "highest level," and called for meticulous preparations to ensure the "orderly" and "fair" conduct of the presidential election on June 3. Lee also directed acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho to thoroughly oversee military surveillance and readiness and to elevate the country's military preparedness posture to the highest level, to be able to respond "rapidly and sternly" to any and all types of provocations, also directing all public servants to maintain strict discipline when it came to their work and political neutrality ahead of the presidential election.[8]

Lee acted as the prime minister until 3 July 2025, when Kim Min-seok's nomination for the position was confirmed.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c 조, 성근 (25 April 2025). "[Who Is ?] 이주호 사회부총리 겸 교육부 장관". 비즈니스포스트 (in Korean). Retrieved 2 May 2025.
  2. ^ "Yoon appoints new education minister". Yonhap News Agency. 7 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Who is S. Korea's new acting President Lee Ju-ho?". The Korea Herald. 2 May 2025. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
  4. ^ "Yoon Suk-yeol nominates professor for Korea's next education minister". Korea JoongAng Daily. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  5. ^ 이주호 내정자는 누구···9년만에 다시 돌아온 'MB'시절 교과부 장관. Kyunghyang Shinmun. 29 September 2022. [Korean]
  6. ^ "Education minister candidate returns after 10 years to reshape schools". The Korea Times. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  7. ^ "New acting president vows fair election, firm security from Day 1". The Korea Herald. 2 May 2025. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  8. ^ "Acting President Lee calls for 'highest-level' defense posture, vows all support for 'orderly, fair' election". The Korea Times. 2 May 2025. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
Political offices
Preceded by President of South Korea
Acting
2025 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Han Duck-soo
 Prime Minister of South Korea
Acting
2025 		Succeeded by