Lee Hae-chan
Lee Hae-chan | |
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이해찬 | |
Member of the National Assembly | |
Assumed office 30 May 2012 | |
Succeeded by | New constituency |
Constituency | Sejong |
In office 30 May 1996 – 29 May 2008 | |
Preceded by | Lee Hae-chan |
Succeeded by | Kim Hee-chull |
Constituency | Seoul Gwanak B |
In office 30 May 1988 – 30 June 1995 | |
Preceded by | Yim Churl-soon, Kim Soo-han |
Succeeded by | Lee Hae-chan |
Constituency | Seoul Gwanak B |
36th Prime Minister of South Korea | |
In office 30 June 2004 – 15 March 2006 | |
President | Roh Moo-hyun |
Preceded by | Goh Kun |
Succeeded by | Han Myeong-sook |
Minister of Education | |
In office 3 March 1998 – 24 May 1999 | |
President | Kim Dae-jung |
Preceded by | Lee Myung-hyun |
Succeeded by | Kim Duk-choong |
Personal details | |
Born |
Cheongyang, South Chungcheong, South Korea | July 10, 1952
Political party |
PPD → NDAP → DP → NCNP → MDP → DP → Uri → UNDP → DUP → DP → NPAD → Minjoo Party of Korea (until 2016) Independent (2016–present) |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 이해찬 |
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Hanja | 李海瓚 |
Revised Romanization | I Haechan |
McCune–Reischauer | I Haech'an |
Lee Hae-chan (born July 10, 1952) is a former Prime Minister of South Korea.[1] He was nominated by president Roh Moo-hyun on June 8, 2004, confirmed by the National Assembly on June 29, and took office on June 30. He is a member of the liberal Uri Party, and was elected five times for the National Assembly. On March 14, 2006, he resigned amidst the so-called golf game scandal.
He also served as the minister of education under former president Kim Dae-jung from 1998 to 1999, presiding over controversial education reforms including revamping the college entrance process and lowering the retirement age of teachers. The first reform in particular, which at the time was summed up in the slogan that being good at one thing was enough to get into college, was criticised for allegedly lowering dramatically the scholastic competence of the so-called "Lee Hae-chan generation" of then-high school students.
His nomination as prime minister met some resistance due to his record as minister of education, which many consider a failure. Since taking office, however, Lee has proved an able prime minister, being described by some as the most powerful prime minister South Korea has seen.
On March 1, 2006, the Korean Railroad Workers Union and Seoul Subway Union entered a strike together. The strike of railroad and subway at the same time proved to be a fatal blow at the nation's economic activity, especially Seoul area, where traffic heavily depend on subway, which is controlled by these two unions. Prime Minister Lee was supposed to command the situation and mediate the strike; however, he was playing golf at Busan area with local businessmen, and this caused massive distaste among Korean people against Lee for not taking care of the government and people.
See also
References
National Assembly of South Korea | ||
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Preceded by Yim Churl-soon Kim Soo-han as Members of the Assembly for Gwanak-gu |
Member of the Assembly for Gwanak-eul 1988–2008 |
Succeeded by Kim Hee-chull |
New constituency | Member of the Assembly for Sejong 2012–present |
Incumbent |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by Goh Kun |
Prime Minister of South Korea 2004–2006 |
Succeeded by Han Myung-Sook |
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