Government of South Korea
The government of South Korea is the national government of the Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution of South Korea as the executive, legislative and judicial authority of the republic. The president acts as the head of state and is the highest figure of executive authority in the country, followed by the prime minister and government ministers in decreasing order.
The Executive and Legislative branches operate primarily at the national level, although various ministries in the executive branch also carry out local functions. Local governments are semi-autonomous and contain executive and legislative bodies of their own. The judicial branch operates at both the national and local levels.
The South Korean government's structure is determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. This document has been revised several times since its first promulgation in 1948. However, it has retained many broad characteristics; with the exception of the short-lived Second Republic of South Korea, the country has always had a relatively independent chief executive in the form of a president.
As with most stable three-branch systems, a careful system of checks and balances is in place. For instance, the judges of the Constitutional Court are partially appointed by the executive, and partially by the legislature. Likewise, when a resolution of impeachment is passed by the legislature, it is sent to the judiciary for a final decision.
Legislative branch
At the national level, the legislative branch consists of the National Assembly of South Korea. This is a unicameral legislature; it consists of a single large assembly. Most of its 300 members are elected from-member constituencies; however, 56 are elected through proportional representation. The members of the National Assembly serve for four years; if a member is unable to complete his or her term, a by-election is held.The National Assembly is charged with deliberating and passing legislation, auditing the budget and administrative procedures, ratifying treaties, and approving state appointments. In addition, it has the power to impeach or recommend the removal of high officials.
The Assembly forms 17 standing committees to deliberate matters of detailed policy. For the most part, these coincide with the ministries of the executive branch.
Bills pass through these committees before they reach the floor. However, before they reach committee, they must already have gained the support of at least 20 members, unless they have been introduced by the president. To secure final passage, a bill must be approved by a majority of those present; a tie vote defeats the bill. After passage, bills are sent to the president for approval; they must be approved within 15 days.
Each year, the budget bill is submitted to the National Assembly by the executive. By law, it must be submitted at least 90 days before the start of the fiscal year, and the final version must be approved at least 30 days before the start of the fiscal year. The Assembly is also responsible for auditing accounts of past expenditures, which must be submitted at least 120 days before the start of the fiscal year.
Sessions of the Assembly may be either regular or extraordinary. These sessions are open-door by default but can be closed to the public by majority vote or by decree of the Speaker. In order for laws to be passed in any session, a quorum of half the members must be present.
Since september 2024 and at least until october 2025, seven political parties are represented in the National Assembly.
Executive branch
The executive branch is headed by the president. The president is elected directly by the people, and is the only elected member of the national executive. The president serves for one five-year term; additional terms are not permitted. The President serves a fixed term regardless of the confidence of the National Assembly. However, the President may be impeached by the National Assembly if he or she violates the Constitution or the law, and this provision also applies to the Prime Minister, Ministers, heads of executive ministries, Justices of the Constitutional Court, judges, members of the National Election Commission, the Chairperson and members of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and other public officials as prescribed by law. Once the National Assembly votes in favor of the impeachment the Constitutional Court should either confirm or reject the impeachment resolution, once again reflecting the system of checks and balances between the three branches of the government.The president is head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief of the South Korean armed forces. The president is vested with the power to declare war, and can also propose legislation to the National Assembly. The president can also declare a state of emergency or martial law, subject to the Assembly's subsequent approval. Under the principle of separation of powers, the President may exercise the right to veto a bill as a means of checking the legislature. However, if the National Assembly passes the bill again with the attendance of a majority of its members and the approval of two-thirds of those present, the bill becomes law. The current Constitution does not grant the President the power to dissolve the National Assembly. This safeguard reflects the experience of authoritarian governments under the First, Third, and Fourth Republics. In particular, during the Fourth Republic, the power to dissolve the National Assembly was explicitly granted to the president for the first time in the nation’s constitutional history. On October 17, 1972, President Park Chung-hee issued a “Special Declaration” announcing the Yushin, through which he dissolved the National Assembly and suspended the Constitution.
The Yushin Constitution formally adopted a presidential system. However, by granting the president the authority to dissolve the National Assembly—an authority not normally found in presidential systems—it introduced certain elements of a parliamentary system. This provision allowed the president to exercise considerable control over the legislature, expanding the power of the executive branch.
Article 59 of the Yushin Constitution stated that “the President may dissolve the National Assembly,” but it did not specify any conditions, procedures, or limits on the president’s responsibility when exercising this power. Since the Constitution at the time did not grant the National Assembly a vote of no confidence in the government, the dissolution power functioned as a unilateral presidential prerogative.
This power to dissolve the legislature was maintained under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic. However, following the June Democratic Uprising in 1987 and the subsequent constitutional amendment, the president’s authority to dissolve the National Assembly was removed, restoring the system of checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches.
The president is assisted in his or her duties by the Prime Minister of South Korea as well as the Presidential Secretariat. The Prime Minister is appointed by the president upon the approval of the National Assembly, and has the power to recommend the appointment or dismissal of the Cabinet ministers. The officeholder is not required to be a member of the National Assembly. The Prime Minister is assisted in his/her duties by the Prime Minister's Office which houses both the Office for Government Policy Coordination and the Prime Minister's Secretariat, the former of which is headed by a cabinet-level minister and the latter by a vice minister-level chief of staff. if the president is unable to fulfill his duties, the Prime Minister assumes the president's powers and takes control of the state until the President can once again fulfill his/her duties or until a new president is elected.
The State Council is the highest body and national cabinet for policy deliberation and resolution in the executive branch of the Republic of Korea. The Constitution of the Republic of Korea mandates that the Cabinet be composed of between 15 and 30 members including the Chairperson, and currently the Cabinet includes the President, the Prime Minister, the Vice Prime Minister, and the cabinet-level ministers of the 17 ministries. The Constitution designates the President as the chairperson of the Cabinet and the Prime Minister as the vice chairperson. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister frequently holds the meetings without the presence of the President as the meeting can be lawfully held as long as the majority of the Cabinet members are present at the meeting. Also, as many government agencies have moved out of Seoul into other parts of the country since 2013, the need to hold Cabinet meetings without having to convene in one place at the same time has been growing, and therefore the law has been amended to allow Cabinet meetings in a visual teleconference format. Although not the official members of the Cabinet, the chief presidential secretary, the Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Minister of Government Legislation, the Minister of Food and Drug Safety, the Chairperson of Korea Fair Trade Commission, the Chairperson of Financial Services Commission, the Mayor of Seoul, and other officials designated by law or deemed necessary by the Chairperson of the Cabinet can also attend the Cabinet meetings and speak in front of the Cabinet without the right to vote on the matters discussed in the meetings The Mayor of Seoul, although being the head of a local autonomous region in South Korea and not directly related to the central executive branch, has been allowed to attend the Cabinet meeting considering the special status of Seoul and its mayor.
The Cabinet of the Republic of Korea performs somewhat different roles than those of many other nations with similar forms. As the Korean political system is basically a presidential system yet with certain aspects of parliamentary cabinet system combined, the Cabinet of the Republic of Korea also is a combination of both systems. More specifically, the Korean Cabinet performs policy resolutions as well as policy consultations to the President. Reflecting that the Republic of Korea is basically a presidential republic the Cabinet resolutions cannot bind the president's decision, and in this regard, the Korean Cabinet is similar to those advisory counsels in strict presidential republics. At the same time, however, the Constitution of the Republic of Korea specifies in details 17 categories including budgetary and military matters, which necessitates the resolution of the Cabinet in addition to the President's approval, and in this regard the Korean Cabinet is similar to those cabinets in strict parliamentary cabinet systems.
The official residence and office of the President of the Republic of Korea is the Yongsan Presidential Office in Seoul, occupying the building formerly known as the Ministry of National Defense Building. In addition of the Office of the President, the Yongsan Presidential Office building also houses the Office of National Security and the Presidential Security Service to assist the President.
Formerly, the Blue House or "Cheongwadae" in Jongno District was the official residence and office of the President as well as other related agencies, until their transfer to Yongsan in 2022 during the term of President Yoon Suk-Yeol.