Lee Hae-chan

{{Short description|Prime Minister of South Korea from 2004 to 2006}}

{{Multiple issues|

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{{Infobox officeholder

| image = 191028더불어민주당예산정책협의회(3).jpg

| caption = Lee in 2019

| honorific-prefix = His Excellency

| name = Lee Hae-chan

| native_name = {{nobold|이해찬}}

| native_name_lang = ko

| office1 = Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea

| term_start1 = 25 August 2018

| term_end1 = 29 August 2020

| predecessor1 = Choo Mi-ae

| successor1 = Lee Nak-yeon

| office2 = Prime Minister of South Korea

| term_start2 = 30 June 2004

| term_end2 = 15 March 2006

| president2 = Roh Moo-hyun

| deputy2 =

| predecessor2 = Goh Kun

| successor2 = Han Myeong-sook

| office3 = Member of the National Assembly

| term_start3 = 30 May 2012

| term_end3 = 29 May 2020

| constituency3 = Sejong

| predecessor3 = Constituency established

| successor3 = Hong Seong-guk, Gang Jun-hyeon

| term_start4 = 30 May 1996

| term_end4 = 29 May 2008

| predecessor4 = Lee Hae-chan

| successor4 = Kim Hui-chul

| constituency4 = Gwanak B (Seoul)

| term_start5 = 30 May 1988

| term_end5 = 30 June 1995

| predecessor5 = Yim Churl-soon, Kim Soo-han

| successor5 = Lee Hae-chan

| constituency5 = Gwanak B (Seoul)

| office6 = Minister of Education

| term_start6 = 3 March 1998

| term_end6 = 24 May 1999

| president6 = Kim Dae-jung

| predecessor6 = Lee Myung-hyun

| successor6 = Kim Duk-choong

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1952|7|10}}

| birth_place = Jangpyeong, South Chungcheong, South Korea

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse =

| children =

| party = Democratic

| alma_mater = Seoul National University

| website = [http://www.hopechan.kr/ www.hopechan.kr]

| successor =

}}

{{Infobox Korean name

|title=Korean name

|hangul=이해찬

|hanja={{linktext|李|海|瓚}}

|rr=I Haechan

|mr=I Haech'an

|headercolor=lavender

}}

Lee Hae-chan ({{Korean|hangul=이해찬}}; born 10 July 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the prime minister of South Korea from 2004 to 2006 and as the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea from 2018 to 2020.

He served as Member of the National Assembly for the Gwanak District from 1988 to 1995 and 1996 to 2008. He served as Minister of Education under President Kim Dae-jung from 1998 to 1999. He presided over controversial education reforms including revamping the college entrance process and lowering the retirement age of teachers. He later served under President Roh Moo-hyun as Prime Minister of South Korea from July 2004 to March 2006. On 27 August 2018, he was elected the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Political career

=Minister for Education=

Lee instituted reforms to the college admissions process. He was criticised{{by whom?|date = July 2024}} for allegedly dramatically lowering the scholastic competence of the so-called Lee Hae-chan generation of then-high school students.

=Prime Minister of South Korea=

He was nominated by President Roh Moo-hyun for the office of Prime Minister of South Korea on 28 July 2004, and was approved by the National Assembly on 29 July. He took office on 30 July.{{cite web |url=http://people.nate.com/people/info/le/eh/leehaechan/ |script-title=ko:이해찬 |publisher=Nate people |language=Korean |accessdate=22 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222074051/http://people.nate.com/people/info/le/eh/leehaechan/ |archive-date=22 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}

His nomination as prime minister was met with some resistance due to his record as minister of education, which many considered a failure. After taking office, however, Lee has proved an able prime minister, being described by some as the most powerful prime minister South Korea had seen.{{citation needed|date = July 2024}}

==Golf-game scandal==

On 1 March 2006, the Korean Railroad Workers Union and Seoul Subway Union went on strike. The strike of railroad and subway unions at the same time proved to be a fatal blow to the nation's economic activity, especially Seoul area, where traffic heavily depended on subway, which was controlled by the 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 outrage among Korean people against Lee for not taking care of the government and people.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}