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Hwang Kyo-ahn | |
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황교안 | |
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| President of South Korea | |
| Acting 9 December 2016 – 10 May 2017[a] | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Park Geun-hye |
| Succeeded by | Moon Jae-in |
| Prime Minister of South Korea | |
| In office 18 June 2015 – 11 May 2017 | |
| President | Park Geun-hye Himself(acting) Moon Jae-in |
| Deputy | Choi Kyoung-hwan Yoo Il-ho |
| Preceded by | Lee Wan-koo Choi Kyoung-hwan(acting) |
| Succeeded by | Yoo Il-ho(acting) Lee Nak-yon |
| Leader ofLiberty Korea Party | |
| In office 27 February 2019 – 17 February 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Kim Byong-joon(Interim) |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Leader ofUnited Future Party | |
| In office 17 February 2020 – 15 April 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Shim Jae-chul(acting) Lee Jun-seok |
| Minister of Justice | |
| In office 11 March 2013 – 18 June 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Chung Hong-won Lee Wan-koo Choi Kyoung-hwan(acting) |
| Preceded by | Gwon Jae-jin |
| Succeeded by | Kim Ju-hyeon(acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1957-04-15)15 April 1957 (age 67) Seoul,South Korea |
| Political party | People Power (2020–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Liberty Korea (2018–2020) |
| Spouse | Choi Ji-young |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Sungkyunkwan University (LLB,LLM) |
| Signature |  |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 황교안 |
| Hanja | 黃敎安 |
| Revised Romanization | Hwang Gyoan |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hwang Kyoan |
| IPA | [hwaŋ.ɡjo.an] |
Hwang Kyo-ahn (Korean: 황교안;Hanja: 黃敎安;RR: Hwang Gyoan; born 15 April 1957) is a South Korean politician and prosecutor who served as the actingpresident of South Korea from 2016 to 2017 and as theprime minister of South Korea from 2015 to 2017.
Hwang served asminister of justice from 2013 to 2015 under PresidentPark Geun-hye. He played a leading role in theinvestigation into the 2013 South Korean sabotage plot, which led to the conviction of Lee Seok-ki and the dissolution of theUnified Progressive Party.[1] In May 2015, he was nominated by President Park Geun-hye for the position ofPrime Minister of South Korea and assumed office on 18 June 2015.[2]
On 9 December 2016, President Park Geun-hye wasimpeached by theNational Assembly. Hwang assumed the role ofActing President of Korea in accordance with thepresidential order of succession until theelection ofMoon Jae-in on 9 May 2017.
In January 2019, he joined theLiberty Korea Party and was elected as itsparty leader on 27 February 2019. When the Liberty Korea Party merged with several other parties to form theUnited Future Party on 17 February 2020, Hwang continued his role as party leader of the United Future Party. After leading the United Future Party to a landslide defeat in the2020 South Korean legislative election and losing his own election for theconstituency inJongno District,Seoul, Hwang resigned as party leader.
On 10 March 2021, Hwang announced his candidacy for nominee of thePeople Power Party in the2022 South Korean presidential election. He was eliminated from the shortlist of PPP candidates on 8 October.[3]
Hwang was born on 15 April 1957.[4] He graduated fromKyunggi High School in 1976.[4] He received hisLL.B in 1981 from the College of Law atSungkyunkwan University, and passed the 23rd National Bar Exam the same year.[4] In 1983, he studied theology at theCapital Baptist Theological Seminary and obtained a diploma.[5]
Hwang earned hisLL.M. in 2006 from the Graduate School of Law atSungkyunkwan University.[4]
Hwang was a career prosecutor.[4][6] In December 1982, he began his career as prosecutor at the Chuncheon District Prosecutor's Office. He worked as a public security inspector with the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul District Public Prosecutor's Office. He spent 30 years as a prosecutor, specializing in enforcing public safety and national security laws under the military junta of Chun Doo-hwan, gaining particular notoriety for targeting democracy activists by linking them with North Korea.[7]
Hwang wrote a book on the national security law called the "Public Security Investigation Textbook."[2]
After serving as the Chief Inspector of the Busan High Prosecutors' Office in 2011, he served as an attorney at the Pacific Law Firm from September 2011 to January 2013.
Hwang joined the Cabinet of South Korean PresidentPark Geun-hye in 2013 asminister of justice.[7] In that role, Hwang played a key role in theConstitutional Court case against the left-wingUnified Progressive Party (which was accused of holding pro-North Korean views); the case culminated in a controversial December 2014 order banning the party, a decision that some saw as a blow tofreedom of speech in South Korea.[7][8]
On 21 May 2015, Park named Hwang as Prime Minister of South Korea, following the resignation ofLee Wan-koo due to allegations ofbribery.[7][9][6]
In July 2016, Hwang was heckled and pelted with eggs and water bottles by crowds in the rural town ofSeongju, who were opposed to deployment of theTerminal High Altitude Area Defense (a U.S.missile defense system) in the area.[10] The deployment plans angered local residents, who raised health and environmental concerns.[8][10]
Hwang "was regarded as the staunchest loyalist in Park's cabinet."[8] Nevertheless, on 2 November 2016, one month before her impeachment, Park fired Hwang as Prime Minister amid the2016 South Korean political scandal as Park tried to rebuild confidence in her administration.[11][12] However, after "a dispute with opposition leaders over choosing a replacement," Hwang was kept in office as prime minister.[12]
Afterwards, Hwang attended theAPEC meeting, which was held in Peru, on behalf of Park.
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On 9 December 2016, uponthe National Assembly's vote to impeach President Park following the2016 South Korean political scandal, Hwang assumed Park's presidential powers and duties as Acting President.[13] On 10 March 2017,South Korea's Constitutional Court upheld the decision to impeach President Park Geun-hye andremoved her from office. As a result, Hwang continued as Acting President of South Korea untilnew elections in early May, which were brought forward from December due to the constitution requiring new elections within 60 days of a permanent presidential vacancy.[14] On assuming the powers of the presidency, Hwang said he felt "deep responsibility".[13] The exact extent of Hwang's powers as acting president are unclear under South Korean law.[8]
His first field tour as acting president was to theJoint Chiefs of Staff in centralSeoul, where he emphasized national security and stated "We are facing a grave security status, as we cannot entirely rule out the possibility of North Korean provocations near theNorthern Limit Line (NLL)."[15]
Hwang decided against contesting theSouth Korean 2017 presidential election, declaring it would be inappropriate to run, opting instead to focus on his position as Acting President.[16][17] He was previously seen as the leading candidate for conservatives within the country, leaving them searching for a viable candidate other than Hwang to challenge leading contenderMoon Jae-in for the presidency.[18]
He resigned as Prime Minister on 11 May 2017, after the election of his successor as president.[19]
In November 2018, Hwang joined theLiberty Korea Party. He announced in January 2019 that he would be seeking the party's leadership position.[20] On 27 February 2019, he wonLiberty Korea Party leadership election with 50.1 percent of the vote.[21] When the Liberty Korea Party merged with several other smaller parties to form theUnited Future Party on 17 February 2020, Hwang assumed the role of party leader of the United Future Party.
In the2020 legislative elections on 15 April, Hwang ran for the seat for theJongno district of Seoul, which includes theBlue House andGwanghwamun Plaza.[22] Hwang led his party to a landslide defeat and lost his own Jongno election to Democratic Party candidate and formerPrime MinisterLee Nak-yon. Hwang resigned from the leadership on 15 April, shortly after the election.[23] After the 2020 legislative elections, Hwang went on a brief hiatus from politics.
On 10 March 2021, Hwang Kyo-ahn announced his candidacy in the2022 South Korean presidential election in aFacebook post.[24] He registered as a candidate for the People Power Party, the current incarnation of the former United Future Party. On 8 October, Hwang was eliminated from the PPP shortlist of nominees as it narrowed to four candidates, effectively ending his 2022 presidential bid.[3] After his loss, Hwang engaged inconspiracy theory and accused the primaries of being fraudulent and rigged.[25][26]
On 5 February 2025, Hwang joined the legal team of impeached presidentYoon Suk Yeol defending him from criminal charges relating to hisdeclaration of martial law in December 2024. Hwang had previously expressed support for the declaration.[27]
Hwang isChristian and an evangelist member of aBaptist Church, affiliated with theKorea Baptist Convention.[5]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of South Korea 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of South Korea Acting 2017 Acting forPark Geun-hye: 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Provisional Governments (Pre-Union)(1919) | Syngman Rhee (Seoul) • Syngman Rhee (Shanghai) •Yi Dong-nyeong (Shanghai) •Ahn Chang Ho (Shanghai) •Yi Dong-hwi (Shanghai) • Moon Chang-bum (Vladivostok) |   |
|---|---|---|
| Provisional Government(1919–1948) | Syngman Rhee‡ •Yi Dong-nyeong •Park Eun-sik •Lee Yu-pil •Yi Sang-ryong •Yang Gi-tak •Yi Dong-nyeong • Ahn Chang Ho • Yi Dong-nyeong •Hong Jin •Kim Ku • Yi Dong-nyeong • Song Byung-jo • Yi Dong-nyeong • Kim Ku • Syngman Rhee | |
| First Republic(1948–1960) | Syngman Rhee •Ho Chong | |
| Second Republic(1960–1961) | ||
| Military Junta(1961–1963) | ||
| Third Republic(1963–1972) | Park Chung Hee | |
| Fourth Republic(1972–1981) | ||
| Fifth Republic(1981–1988) | Chun Doo-hwan | |
| Sixth Republic(1988–present) | ||
Italics indicate an acting president • * Impeached, Constitutional Court ruling pending • † Impeached, but restored to office • ‡ Impeached and removed from office | ||
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