Lee Jae-myung

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Lee Jae-myung
이재명
Lee in 2022
Leader of the Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 August 2022
Preceded by	Woo Sang-ho
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 June 2022
Preceded by	Song Young-gil
Constituency	Gyeyang B (Incheon)
35th Governor of Gyeonggi Province
In office 1 July 2018 – 25 October 2021
Preceded by	Nam Kyung-pil
Succeeded by	Oh Byeong-kwon (acting) Kim Dong-yeon
19th Mayor of Seongnam
In office 1 July 2010 – 15 March 2018
Preceded by	Lee Dae-yup
Succeeded by	Eun Su-mi
Personal details
Born	(1963-12-08) 8 December 1963 (age 61) Andong, South Korea
Political party	Democratic (2014–present)
Other political affiliations	Uri (2005–2007) GUDNP (2007–2008) UDP (2008–2011) DUP (2011–2014)
Spouse	Kim Hye-kyung ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	2
Education	Chung-Ang University (LLB) Gachon University (MPA)
Occupation	Politician author
Profession	Lawyer
Signature
Korean name
Hangul	이재명
Hanja	李在明
Revised Romanization	I Jaemyeong
McCune–Reischauer	I Chaemyŏng

Lee Jae-myung (Korean: 이재명; born 8 December 1963) is a South Korean lawyer and politician serving as the member of the National Assembly for Gyeyang B and as the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea since 2022. He previously served as the 35th governor of Gyeonggi Province from 2018 to 2021 and was the nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2022 South Korean presidential election.

Born to a poor family in Andong, Lee became a factory worker after primary school and became disabled due to workplace injuries. Lee earned middle and high school equivalency diplomas and studied at Chung-Ang University, earning his law degree in 1986. As a human rights and labour lawyer, Lee organized with Minbyun and advocated for opening a new hospital in Seongnam.

Lee entered politics in 2005 and unsuccessfully contested a few elections. He was elected Mayor of Seongnam in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. He resigned in 2018 for a successful run for Governor of Gyeonggi Province. Lee ran for president in 2022, winning the party nomination, but narrowly losing to Yoon Suk Yeol in the general election.

In January 2024, Lee survived an assassination attempt. Later that year, in November, he was convicted of violating the Public Official Election Act by falsely denying his connection with Kim Moon-ki, a former executive of Seongnam Development Corporation, during his 2022 presidential campaign. He received a one-year suspended prison sentence pending appeal, a decision he says was politically motivated.