{"id":44410,"date":"2026-06-07T13:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T13:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/44410\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T13:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T13:21:09","slug":"who-is-han-seongsook-south-koreas-first-female-prime-minister-in-two-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/44410\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Is Han Seongsook South Korea&#8217;s First Female Prime Minister In Two Decades?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has nominated Han Seongsook, the country&#8217;s minister for small and midsize businesses and startups and former chief executive of internet giant Naver, as prime minister, marking a potentially historic appointment for the country, Reuters reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If approved by the National Assembly, Han, 59, will become South Korea&#8217;s first female prime minister in two decades and only the second woman to hold the post after Han Myeong-sook, who served from 2006 to 2007.<\/p>\n<p>Announcing the nomination in Seoul, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said Lee selected Han because of her unique blend of experience in both the technology sector and government at a time when artificial intelligence is reshaping economies worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>ALSO READ: <a class=\"sp_lnk2\" href=\"http:\/\/Pakistan&#039;s Mohsin Naqvi Visits Tehran For Third Time In Weeks Amid US-Iran Tensions  https:\/\/www.ndtvprofit.com\/world\/pakistan-interior-minister-mohsin-naqvi-visits-tehran-for-third-time-in-weeks-amid-us-iran-tensions-11601881\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi Visits Tehran For Third Time In Weeks Amid US-Iran Tensions<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on her experience as the CEO of an IT company and as the SMEs minister, she is expected to successfully accomplish the era-defining task of the AI transition and lead growth for all Koreans, not just a segment of society,\u201d Kang said.<\/p>\n<p>According to The Korea Herald, Han is widely recognised as one of South Korea&#8217;s most influential technology executives. After graduating from Sookmyung Women&#8217;s University with a degree in English language and literature, she began her career as a technology reporter before moving into the internet industry. She later joined Empas, one of South Korea&#8217;s early internet portal companies, where she led its search business.<\/p>\n<p>In 2007, Han joined Naver and rose through the ranks, holding senior positions including search quality director and general service director. In 2017, she became Naver&#8217;s first female CEO, overseeing the company&#8217;s expansion in artificial intelligence and digital services. Following her departure as CEO in 2022, she led Naver&#8217;s European business development efforts and later served as an adviser to the company and chair of the Korea Internet Enterprise Association.<\/p>\n<p>ALSO READ: <a class=\"sp_lnk2\" href=\"http:\/\/Singapore Orders Social Media Platforms To Block Anti-India Content  https:\/\/www.ndtvprofit.com\/world\/singapore-directs-social-media-platforms-to-block-online-access-to-content-targeting-indians-11601219\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Singapore Directs Social Media Platforms To Block Online Access To Content Targeting Indians<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Han subsequently entered public service as minister for SMEs and startups, where she launched the \u201cStartup for Everyone Project\u201d and pushed policies aimed at promoting business growth and innovation.<\/p>\n<p>Kang described her as an inspirational leader who began her career as an ordinary office worker and rose to lead one of the country&#8217;s premier digital companies.<\/p>\n<p>The nomination comes as Prime Minister Kim Min-seok is expected to step down to pursue the leadership of the ruling Democratic Party. With Lee&#8217;s party holding a majority in the 300-member National Assembly, Han&#8217;s confirmation is widely expected unless major ethical concerns emerge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-0\">\n                                    Essential <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtvprofit.com\/business\" class=\"PfAr_tx-lk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Business<\/a> Intelligence,<br \/>\n                                    Continuous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtvprofit.com\/live-tv\" class=\"PfAr_tx-lk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LIVE TV<\/a>,<br \/>\n                                    Sharp <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtvprofit.com\/markets\" class=\"PfAr_tx-lk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Market<\/a> Insights,<br \/>\n                                    Practical <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtvprofit.com\/personal-finance\" class=\"PfAr_tx-lk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Personal Finance<\/a> Advice and<br \/>\n                                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtvprofit.com\/the-latest\" class=\"PfAr_tx-lk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Latest<\/a> Stories \u2014 On NDTV Profit.\n                                <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has nominated Han Seongsook, the country&#8217;s minister for small and midsize businesses&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31,16408,33,26530],"class_list":["post-44410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","tag-korea","tag-prime-minister","tag-south-korea","tag-tech-savvy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}