Profile

Yoon Suk Yeol (born December 18, 1960) is the President of the Republic of Korea.
He is a former public prosecutor who served as Prosecutor General from 2019 to 2021. Throughout his career, he was well-known for his skill and success in tackling high-profile corruption cases. Yoon was elected President on March 9, 2022, in the 20th Presidential Election as the candidate of the People Power Party (PPP). On May 10, Yoon was inaugurated as the President of the Republic of Korea.

After serving 2 years as Chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Yoon was appointed Prosecutor General on July 16, 2019. From August 2019, he launched investigations into corruption and political scandals of key members of incumbent administration. Due to the political tensions with the administration, Yoon resigned as Prosecutor General in March 2021 and entered politics in June the same year. This decision was primarily driven by his strong conviction that Korea needed to correct its course; this sentiment was also evident in opinion polls showing how the people desperately wanted Yoon to run for the Presidency.

Yoon firmly believes in working closely with Korea's allies and partners and the need to uphold universal values such as human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Such conviction was what led to his eventual win in the hotly-contested party primary in November 2021. During his presidential campaign, he promised ‘unity among all Koreans’ and to always be open to the people’s voices. He also pledged to cooperate with those across the aisle to achieve tangible progress that would benefit all Koreans. Yoon also strongly believes that Korea has a responsibility to the international community.

Yoon was born in Seoul in 1960. He studied law at Seoul National University and earned a Master’s degree in law from Seoul National University in 1988. Around the Gwangju Uprising in 1980, he and his college friends held a mock trial, where he played the role of a prosecutor and demanded life imprisonment for Chun Doo-hwan, who was ruling the country at the time as an unelected military dictator. It was an early display of the fierce independence and principled nature of his character.

After passing the Bar exam in 1991, Mr. Yoon began his career as a prosecutor at the Daegu Public Prosecutors' Office in 1994. And for over 26 years, he dedicated himself to combating corruption.