Concept
The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president leads the State Council, and is the chief of the executive branch of the national government as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. The Constitution and the amended Presidential Election Act of 1987 provide for election of the president by direct, secret ballot, ending sixteen years of indirect presidential elections under the preceding two authoritarian governments. The president is directly elected to a five-year term, with no possibility of re-election. If a presidential vacancy should occur, a successor must be elected within sixty days, during which time presidential duties are to be performed by the prime minister or other senior cabinet members in the order of priority as determined by law. The president is exempt from criminal liability (except for insurrection or treason). The current president, Yoon Suk Yeol, a former prosecutor general and member of the conservative People Power Party, assumed office on 10 May 2022, after defeating the Democratic Party's nominee Lee Jae-myung with a narrow 48.5% plurality in the 2022 South Korean presidential election. Prior to the establishment of the First Republic in 1948, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea established in Shanghai in September 1919 as the continuation of several governments proclaimed in the aftermath of March 1st Movement earlier that year coordinated resistance against Japanese rule. The legitimacy of the Provisional Government has been recognized and succeeded by South Korea in the latter's original Constitution of 1948 and the current Constitution of 1988. The presidential term has been set at five years since 1988. It was previously set at four years from 1948 to 1972, six years from 1972 to 1981, and seven years from 1981 to 1988. Since 1981, the president has been barred from re-election.
