South Korean order of precedence


The Republic of Korea has no officially recognized South Korean order of precedence, yet the Office of the President once officially declared order of precedence among the chiefs of 6 highest constitutional institutions in year 2006 as following:
  1. the President of the Republic of Korea, as both head of state and leader of government
  2. the Speaker of the National Assembly, as leader of legislature
  3. the [Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea|Supreme Court of Korea|Chief Justice of the Supreme Court] and the President of the Constitutional Court, as co-leader of the judiciary
  4. the Prime Minister, as deputy leader of government
  5. the Chairperson of the National Election Commission, as leader of the constitutionally independent agency for national election administration

History

Before democratization in 1987, South Korea traditionally maintained a term Sambuyoin which depicts the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister, as symbol for tripartite separation of powers. This term was usually used when the President of the Republic of Korea invites Sambu-Yoin to important national ceremonies, regarding the President of the Republic of Korea as a somewhat higher office distinguished from each three branches of the government, which is represented by the Sambu-Yoin.
After democratization, South Korea established the Constitutional Court of Korea as constitutional court independent from the old Supreme Court. Yet the exact position of the President of the Constitutional Court inside the order of precedence among Sambu-Yoin remained as potential question. Some of writers tried to call chiefs of highest constitutional institutions other than the President of the Republic of Korea, including the Constitutional Court and the National Election Committee, as Sabuyoin or Obuyoin, as regarding the Constitutional Court as fourth branch and the National Election Committee as fifth branch of the government, even though South Korea had never regarded the Constitutional Court and the National Election Committee as separated branch of government. This continued disorder got escalated when the EOP tried to demote protocol rank of the President of the Constitutional Court under the Prime Minister, when the Constitutional Court made several decisions nullifying policies of the national President around 2004-2006. The President of the Constitutional Court boycotted some of national ceremonies to oppose such demotion, and the EOP had no choice but to restore the rank of the constitutional court President over the Prime Minister.
So in 2006, EOP declared that 5 chiefs of highest constitutional institutions other than the national President as following order: the Speaker comes first as leader of legislature, and both of the supreme court Chief and the constitutional court President comes second as co-leader of judiciary. Following rank was given to the Prime Minister as deputy leader of executive branch, and the Chair of NEC got the bottom rank as head of constitutionally independent agency. An also at the same time, EOP declared that Sabuyoin or Obuyoin is not a legally correct term, since South Korea is a country with a tripartite system of power separation by the Constitution, not a Five-Power Constitution as Taiwan. The EOP suggested using term 'Sambuyoin plus the head of constitutional institution'.

Detailed order

Following list is not a officially recognized South Korean order of precedence, yet conventionally used by writers and reporters.
  1. President of the Republic of Korea
  2. Speaker of the National Assembly
  3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and President of the Constitutional Court
  4. Prime Minister
  5. Chairperson of the National Election Commission
  6. Chair of the Board of Audit and Inspection
  7. Leaders of the parties represented in the National Assembly
  8. # Leader of the ruling party
  9. # Leaders of the oppositions
  10. Deputy Speakers of the National Assembly
  11. Cabinet ministers
  12. # Deputy Prime Ministers
  13. ## Minister of Economy and Finance
  14. ## Minister of Education
  15. # Other ministers of the Cabinet
  16. ## Minister of Foreign Affairs
  17. ## Minister of Reunification of Korea
  18. ## Minister of Justice
  19. ## Minister of National Defense
  20. ## Minister of Interior and Safety
  21. ## Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism
  22. ## Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
  23. ## Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy
  24. ## Minister of Health and Welfare
  25. ## Minister of Environment
  26. ## Minister of Employment and Labor
  27. ## Minister of Gender Equality and Family
  28. ## Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
  29. ## Minister of Oceans and Fisheries
  30. ## Minister of Small Businesses and Startups
  31. Floor leaders in the National Assembly
  32. # Floor leader of the ruling party
  33. # Floor leaders of the oppositions
  34. Chairs of the standing committees of the National Assembly
  35. # Chair of the House Steering Committee
  36. # Chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee
  37. # Chair of the National Policy Committee
  38. # Chair of the National Strategy and Finance Committee
  39. # Chair of the Education Committee
  40. # Chair of the Science, Technology, Broadcasting and Communications Committee
  41. # Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Reunification Committee
  42. # Chair of the National Defense Committee
  43. # Chair of the Public Administration and Security Committee
  44. # Chair of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee
  45. # Chair of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee
  46. # Chair of the Trade, Industry, Energy, Small Businesses and Startups Committee
  47. # Chair of the Health and Welfare Committee
  48. # Chair of the Environment and Labor Committee
  49. # Chair of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee
  50. # Chair of the Intelligence Committee
  51. # Chair of the Gender Equality and Family Committee
  52. # Chair of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts
  53. Justices of the Supreme Court and Justices of the Constitutional Court
  54. Chiefs of agencies reporting to the Presidents
  55. # Director of the National Intelligence Service
  56. # Chief Presidential Secretary
  57. # Chair of the National Security Council
  58. # Commissioner of the Broadcasting and Telecommunication
  59. # Chief of the Presidential Security Service
  60. Prosecutor General
  61. Chief of the National Assembly Secretariat
  62. Chiefs of agencies reporting to the Prime Minister
  63. Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  64. Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces
  65. # Chief of Staff of the Army
  66. # Chief of Staff of the Navy
  67. # Chief of Staff of the Air Force
  68. Operation commanders
  69. # Deputy Commander of ROK-US Combined Forces Command
  70. # Ground Operations Commander
  71. # Second Operations Commander
  72. Commander of the Marine Corps
  73. Members of the National Assembly