Prime Minister of South Korea

Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea 대한민국 국무총리
Emblem of the Prime Minister
Standard of the Prime Minister
Incumbent Han Duck-soo since 21 May 2022 (Powers and duties suspended since 27 December 2024) Acting Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok since 27 December 2024
Executive branch of the Government of South Korea Prime Minister’s Office
Style	Mr Prime Minister (informal) The Honourable (formal) His Excellency (diplomatic)
Status	Deputy head of government
Member of	State Council National Security Council
Residence	Chongni Gonggwan
Seat	Sejong City
Nominator	President
Appointer	President (Subject to the National Assembly's approval)
Term length	At the President's pleasure
Constituting instrument	Constitution of South Korea
Precursor	Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
Inaugural holder	Lee Beom-seok
Formation	31 July 1948; 76 years ago (1948-07-31)
Unofficial names	Prime Minister of South Korea
Deputy	Deputy Prime Minister
Salary	₩191,000,000 annually[1]
Website	Official website (in English) Official website (in Korean)

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (국무총리 / 國務總理, Gungmuchongni) is appointed by the President of South Korea, with the National Assembly's approval. The officeholder is not required to be a member of the National Assembly. The Prime Minister is not the head of government but is similar to that of a vice president.

The Sino-Korean word gungmu (국무/國務) means "state affairs" and chongni (총리/總理) means "prime minister", "premier" or "chancellor", so the full title in Korean means literally "Prime Minister for State Affairs", but it is not used as official English title. The short title in Korean is just Chongni.

1. ↑ "President's annual salary set at W225m". The Korea Herald. 16 January 2018.