South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has nominated Han Seongsook, the minister for small and midsize businesses and startups, to serve as prime minister, the presidential office announced on Sunday.

If approved by parliament, Han would become South Korea's first female prime minister in two decades.

Han, who previously led internet giant Naver as chief executive, is expected to guide the country's push into artificial intelligence, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik told reporters.

"Han will be able to transform South Korea's economic growth - driven by the semiconductor boom and rising exports - into inclusive growth that reaches everyone, including small and medium-sized enterprises," Kang said.

The prime minister role is largely ceremonial and administrative under the country's presidential system.

South Korea PM history

Han will succeed Kim Min-seok, who served as the first prime minister of the Lee administration from July 2025 until his resignation in June.

Former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, a veteran politician central to South Korea's democratic development, died earlier this year in January while on an official visit to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, officials confirmed.

Lee, 73, suffered a heart attack and passed away on Sunday after receiving emergency medical care, a presidential advisory panel stated.

"The country has lost a great mentor in the history of our democracy," President Lee Jae Myung said. "He dedicated his life to protecting and growing democratic values through our turbulent modern history."

Lee advanced government reforms as prime minister from 2004 to 2006. The seven-term former lawmaker began as a student activist jailed in the 1970s for leading a pro-democracy movement.