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Lee Hae-chan

Lee Hae-chan
이해찬
Lee Haechan.JPG
Member of the National Assembly
Assumed office
30 May 2012
Succeeded by New constituency
Constituency Sejong
In office
30 May 1996 – 29 May 2008
Preceded by Lee Hae-chan
Succeeded by Kim Hee-chull
Constituency Seoul Gwanak B
In office
30 May 1988 – 30 June 1995
Preceded by Yim Churl-soon, Kim Soo-han
Succeeded by Lee Hae-chan
Constituency Seoul Gwanak B
36th Prime Minister of South Korea
In office
30 June 2004 – 15 March 2006
President Roh Moo-hyun
Preceded by Goh Kun
Succeeded by Han Myeong-sook
Minister of Education
In office
3 March 1998 – 24 May 1999
President Kim Dae-jung
Preceded by Lee Myung-hyun
Succeeded by Kim Duk-choong
Personal details
Born (1952-07-10) July 10, 1952 (age 64)
Cheongyang, South Chungcheong, South Korea
Political party Minjoo Party of Korea
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization I Haechan
McCune–Reischauer I Haech'an

Lee Hae-chan (born July 10, 1952) is a member of the liberal Minjoo Party of Korea (Democratic Party), and was elected seventh times for the National Assembly.

He was the former Prime Minister of South Korea. He was nominated by president Roh Moo-hyun on June 8, 2004, confirmed by the National Assembly on June 29, and took office on June 30. On March 14, 2006, he resigned amidst the so-called golf game scandal.

He also served as the minister of education under former president Kim Dae-jung from 1998 to 1999, presiding over controversial education reforms including revamping the college entrance process and lowering the retirement age of teachers. The first reform in particular, which at the time was summed up in the slogan that being good at one thing was enough to get into college, was criticised for allegedly lowering dramatically the scholastic competence of the so-called "Lee Hae-chan generation" of then-high school students.

His nomination as prime minister met some resistance due to his record as minister of education, which many consider a failure. Since taking office, however, Lee has proved an able prime minister, being described by some as the most powerful prime minister South Korea has seen.

On March 1, 2006, the Korean Railroad Workers Union and Seoul Subway Union entered a strike together. The strike of railroad and subway at the same time proved to be a fatal blow at the nation's economic activity, especially Seoul area, where traffic heavily depend on subway, which is controlled by these two unions. Prime Minister Lee was supposed to command the situation and mediate the strike; however, he was playing golf at Busan area with local businessmen, and this caused massive distaste among Korean people against Lee for not taking care of the government and people.


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