Photo: Maryland GovPics / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Lee Nak-yon is the rare politician who came up through journalism, more than two decades of it, before turning to government. He served as governor of South Jeolla and then as South Korea's prime minister from 2017 to 2020, the longest-serving holder of that post in the democratic era. The reporter's background shows; he reads as measured and careful rather than bombastic, which in Korean politics is almost a contrarian style. He later ran for president and split from his old party. I find his arc interesting precisely because it is unflashy: a career built on competence and patience rather than spectacle.
Overview
Lee Nak-yon (Korean: 이낙연; Hanja: 李洛淵; born 20 December 1951) is a South Korean politician who served as the prime minister of South Korea from 2017 to 2020. A member of the New Future Democratic Party, Lee previously served as the governor of South Jeolla Province from 2014 to 2017. Before serving as governor, he worked as a journalist for over 20 years and served as a member of the National Assembly for four terms.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Lee Nack-yon
- Name (Japanese)
- 李洛淵
- Reading
- い・なぎょん
- Born
- December 20, 1952 (age 73)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Dragon
- Origin
- Yeonggwang County, South Jeolla, South Korea
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- politician / journalist / head of government
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Seoul National University
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/leenakyon/
- Xhttps://x.com/nylee21
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%8E%E6%B4%9B%E6%B7%B5
Politician — see all → · Journalist — see all → · More people from South Korea →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.