Lee Wan-koo
{{Short description|South Korean politician (1950–2021)}}
{{expand Korean|topic=bio|date=February 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{family name hatnote|Lee||lang=Korean}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = His Excellency
| name = Lee Wan-koo
| native_name = {{nobold|이완구}}
| native_name_lang = ko
| image = 이완구 전 총리.png
| office =Prime Minister of South Korea
| term_start = 17 February 2015
| term_end = 27 April 2015
| president = Park Geun-hye
| predecessor = Jung Hong-won
| successor = Choi Kyoung-hwan {{smaller|(acting)}}
Hwang Kyo-ahn
| office1 = Member of the National Assembly
| term_start1 = 25 April 2013
| term_end1 = 29 May 2016
| predecessor1 = Kim Geun-tae
| successor1 = Chung Jin-suk
| constituency1 = Buyeo–Cheongyang
| term_start2 = 30 May 1996
| term_end2 = 29 May 2004
| predecessor2 = Cho Bu-young
| successor2 = Kim Hak-won
| constituency2 = Cheongyang–Hongseong
| office3 = Chairman of the Saenuri Party
| status3 = Interim
| term_start3 = 15 May 2014
| term_end3 = 13 July 2014
| predecessor3 = Hwang Woo-yea
| successor3 = Kim Moo-sung
| office4 = Governor of South Chungcheong Province
| term_start4 = 1 July 2006
| term_end4 = 4 December 2009
| predecessor4 = Sim Dae-pyung
| successor4 = Ahn Hee-jung
| birth_date = {{birth date|1950|7|16|df=y}}
| birth_place = Cheongyang County, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea
| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|10|14|1950|7|16|df=y}}
| death_place = Seoul, South Korea
| party = Saenuri
| alma_mater = Sungkyunkwan University (BA)
Michigan State University (MA)
Dankook University (PhD)
}}
{{Infobox Korean name/auto
| hangul = %이완구
| hanja = 李完九
}}
Lee Wan-koo ({{korean|hangul=이완구|hanja=李完九}}; 16 July 1950 – 14 October 2021) was a South Korean politician who briefly served as the prime minister of South Korea in 2015.
Biography
Lee was born in 1950 in {{ill|Bibong-myeon|ko|비봉면 (청양군)}}, Cheongyang, South Chungcheong Province. After graduating from Sungkyunkwan University, Lee worked as a public officer in the Economic Planning Board (current Ministry of Strategy and Finance) and later moved to the National Police Agency.{{cite web |script-title=ko:혈액암 투병해온 이완구 전 국무총리 별세 |url=https://www.chosun.com/politics/politics_general/2021/10/14/S42NWCLTFZAHTE4DBKBP75VUK4/ |website=The Chosun Ilbo |access-date=14 October 2021 |language=ko |date=14 October 2021}} From 1982 to 1984, he studied at Michigan State University in the United States and received an M. A. in Criminal Justice.{{cite web |title=2005 Honorees |url=https://cj.msu.edu/alumni-giving/wof-pages/2005-honorees.html |website=cj.msu.edu |publisher=School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University |access-date=16 October 2021 |date=2005 |quote=Wan Koo Lee, MS, 84', ... Following his graduation from the School of Criminal Justice, he served as Consul for the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles,...}} From 1986 to 1989, Lee served as Consul for the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles.{{cite web |title=PM-designate Lee Wan-koo: I'd give the President candid advice, work with opposition as partners |url=http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=808 |website=The Korea Post |access-date=16 October 2021 |language=ko |date=26 January 2015 |quote=Resume of Prime Minister-designate Lee Wan-koo}}
In 1995, Lee entered into politics, joining the Democratic Liberal Party (later renamed as the New Korea Party). In the 1996 election, he was elected as a member of the National Assembly for the New Korea Party. In 1998, he joined the United Liberal Democrats, led by Kim Jong-pil. In the 2006 election, he was elected as the governor of South Chungcheong Province. He resigned as governor on 23 December 2009, as a protest against the Lee Myung-bak government.
Lee was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer.{{cite web |title=(LEAD) Former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo dies at 71 |url=https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20211014005351315?section=national/politics |website=Yonhap News Agency |access-date=14 October 2021 |language=en |date=14 October 2021}} After recovering, he was re-elected as a member of the National Assembly in a 2013 by-election. In May 2014, he became the floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party.
=Prime Minister of South Korea=
On 23 January 2015, President Park Geun-hye named Lee, at the time parliamentary floor leader, as prime minister.{{cite news |title=South Korean President Park names Lee Wan-koo prime minister |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1690263/south-korean-president-park-names-lee-wan-koo-prime-minister |access-date=16 October 2021 |work=South China Morning Post |date=24 January 2015 |language=en}} Lee was confirmed by the National Assembly as Prime Minister on 16 February 2015; the National Assembly voted with 148 Yes, 128 No, with 5 Abstained.{{cite web |title=(LEAD) Parliament endorses PM nominee |url=https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20150216001851315 |website=Yonhap News Agency |access-date=16 October 2021 |language=en |date=16 February 2015}}
On 20 April 2015, Lee offered to resign as Prime Minister, amid allegations of bribery.[https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/20/asia/south-korea-prime-minister/index.html South Korea Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo offers to resign - CNN.com]{{cite news|title=S. Korean PM to resign after 2 months amid bribe scandal |newspaper=The Yomiuri Shimbun|author=The Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|date=21 April 2015 |url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002096473}} He formally stepped down on 27 April 2015, apologizing over a scandal in which he was accused of taking an illegal cash gift from Sung Wan-jong, a businessman.Choe Sang-hun (27 April 2015). [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/world/asia/prime-minister-lee-wan-koo-of-south-korea-resigns.html?_r=0 "South Korea's Premier Resigns After Claims He Took an Illegal Cash Gift".] The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2015. President Park Geun-hye accepted Lee's resignation.
=Conviction=
In January 2016, he was convicted of taking illegal funds by the Seoul Central District Court.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/world/asia/lee-wan-koo-south-korea-convicted.html|title=Lee Wan-koo, Ex-Premier of South Korea, Guilty of Taking Illegal Funds|newspaper=The New York Times|date=29 January 2016|last1=Choe|first1=Sang-Hun}} However, in September 2016, he was acquitted by the Seoul High Court.{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Kyung-min |title=Ex-Prime Minister's conviction overturned |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/05/113_214869.html?WA |website=The Korea Times |access-date=14 October 2021 |language=en |date=27 September 2016}} On 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the Seoul High Court's acquittal of Lee.{{cite web |title=Top court upholds not guilty verdict for Liberty Korea Party leader in bribery trial |url=https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20171222005452315 |website=Yonhap News Agency |access-date=14 October 2021 |language=en |date=22 December 2017}}
Death
In 2016, Lee's cancer returned. He died on 14 October 2021, due to multiple myeloma, at the age of 71. He died about two weeks before former President Roh Tae Woo died on October 26, 2021.
References
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{{s-bef|before=Jung Hong-won}}
{{s-ttl|title=Prime Minister of South Korea|years=2015}}
{{s-aft|after=Choi Kyoung-hwan
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{{Prime Ministers of South Korea}}
{{Liberty Korea Party}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Wan-koo}}
Category:20th-century South Korean politicians
Category:21st-century South Korean politicians
Category:Deaths from multiple myeloma
Category:Government ministers of South Korea
Category:Members of the National Assembly (South Korea)
Category:Politicians from South Chungcheong Province
Category:Prime ministers of South Korea
Category:Governors of South Chungcheong Province
Category:Sungkyunkwan University alumni
Category:United Liberal Democrats politicians