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Lee Hoi-chang
이회창
Lee in 2010
Prime Minister of South Korea
In office 17 December 1993 – 21 April 1994
President	Kim Young-sam
Preceded by	Hwang In-sung
Succeeded by	Lee Yung-dug
Other offices Member of theNational Assembly In office 30 May 2008 – 29 May 2012 Preceded by Hong Moon-pyo Succeeded by Hong Moon-pyo Constituency Hongseong–Yesan In office 30 May 2000 – 10 December 2002 Constituency Proportional representation In office 4 June 1999 – 29 May 2000 Preceded by Hong Joon-pyo Succeeded by Maeng Hyung-gyu Constituency SeoulSongpa A Leader of theLiberty Forward Party In office 1 February 2008 – 9 May 2011 Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Byun Woong-jeon Leader of theGrand National Party In office 30 August 1998 – 20 May 2002 Preceded by Cho Soon Succeeded by Park Kwan-yong (acting) Leader of theNew Korea Party In office 30 September 1997 – 21 November 1997 Preceded by Kim Young-sam Succeeded by Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1935-06-02)2 June 1935 (age 90) Sohung County,Kōkai Province,Korea, Empire of Japan
Party	Independent
Other political affiliations	New Korea(1996–1997) Grand National(1997–2007) Independent(2007–2008) Liberty Forward(2008–2012) Saenuri(2012–2017)
Spouse	Han In-ok[1]
Children	2[2]
Alma mater	Seoul National University
Religion	Roman Catholic[3]
Signature
Korean name
Hangul	이회창
Hanja	李會昌
RR	I Hoechang
MR	I Hoech'ang
IPA	i.hø.tɕʰaŋ
Art name
Hangul	경사
Hanja	俓史
RR	Gyeongsa
MR	Kyŏngsa

Lee Hoi-chang (Korean:이회창;pronounced[i.hø.tɕʰaŋ]; born June 2, 1935) is a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as theprime minister of South Korea from 1993 to 1994. A political independent, he was a candidate in the1997,2002, and2007 South Korean presidential elections. Prior to his presidential campaigns, Lee served as an associate justice of theSupreme Court of Korea.^[4]

Lee was born to an elite family in Seoheung,Hwanghae Province (part of what is now North Korea),Korea, Empire of Japan. His father, Lee Hong-gyu, a public prosecutor, was appointed to a new post in the southern part of the peninsula and they moved there.^[5] Lee studied law atSeoul National University. Lee served as a judge from 1960 to 1980, when he became the country's youngest-ever Supreme Court Justice at the age of 46.^[5]

In 1988, Lee was appointed Chairman of theNational Election Commission. He was chosen to head theBoard of Audit and Inspection under PresidentKim Young-sam in 1993. Lee's anti-corruption campaigns in that office gained him the nickname "Bamboo," a Korean term for an upright person of principle.^[5] Later in the same year, he was appointedprime minister, but resigned in 1994. His departure was attributed to a frustration with the exclusion of the office of the prime minister from policymaking, in particular concerning North Korea.^[4]

In 1996, Lee led the parliamentary campaign of the then-ruling New Korea Party (NKP), which merged with the United Democratic Party to become theGrand National Party (GNP) in 1997.^[6] Lee was elected as his party's presidential candidate for the presidential election scheduled for that same year. Lee was initially considered the frontrunner in the race, although his performance in public polling took a hit amid revelations in September that two of his sons had been excused frommandatory military service for reporting for duty underweight, having each lost 22 pounds since their initial physical examinations.^[7] Lee ultimately lost toKim Dae-Jung in the midst of theAsian economic crisis.

Lee again campaigned to win the presidency in 2002, running againstRoh Moo-hyun of the incumbentMillennium Democratic Party. Although corruption scandals marred the incumbent government, Lee's campaign suffered from the wave ofAnti-American sentiment in Korea generated by theYangju highway incident. Public opinion of Lee, who was widely seen as being both pro-U.S. and the preferred candidate of theGeorge W. Bush Administration inWashington, D.C., suffered. After losing to Roh by 2% in the December 2002 elections, Lee subsequently announced his retirement from politics.^[5][8]

On November 7, 2007, Lee officially announced his third campaign for the South Korean presidency as an unaligned candidate after quitting the GNP. Launching his campaign late in the race, some two months prior to the election, Lee joined GNP candidateLee Myung-bak, UNDP contenderChung Dong-young, andMoon Kook-hyun. Running to theright of his opponents, Lee criticizedforeign aid to North Korea, arguing that such programs were fiscally burdensome and inappropriate while North Korea continued to pursue the development of nuclear weapons.^[9][10] His presidential bid posed a concern to the conservatives who were eager to regain the presidency after a decade of leftist rule, as it was feared Lee's candidacy would divide the conservative vote; however, Lee Myung-Bak won the December elections with 48.7% of the vote, while Lee Hoi-chang came in third, with approximately 15%.^[11][12][13]After his 2007 election bid, Lee founded theLiberty Forward Party.

Lee has been described as a staunchconservative in the context ofSouth Korean politics.^[14] His positions includeanti-communism, support forfree marketcapitalism, and a hard-line stance against North Korea.^[14] Lee repeatedly criticized Kim Dae-jung's "Sunshine Policy" of engagement and détente with North Korea, and argued for the cessation of foreign aid until the North should dismantle itsnuclear weapon program. Lee has called for a crackdown on illegal strikes, and for the appointment of more women to government offices.^[5]

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• Prime ministers of South Korea
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