Lee Nak-yon (Korean: 이낙연; Hanja: 李洛淵; born 20 December 1951),^[1][2][3] also known as Lee Nak-yeon, is a South Korean politician who served as the 41st Prime Minister of South Korea from 2017 to 2020.^[4][5] A member of the New Reform Party, he is the longest-serving prime minister since the Constitution of South Korea was last revised in 1987.^[6] Lee previously held the governorship of South Jeolla Province province from 2014 to 2017, a stronghold of his party.^[4] 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.

Lee was chosen for the position of Prime Minister by President Moon Jae-in to keep his campaign promise to appoint his de facto deputy from Honam region.^[7] During his tenure as Prime Minister, Lee became well-known for his forceful exchanges with opposition party leaders and adeptness at communicating with citizens.^[8] Prior to and following his victory in the crucial Jongno district in the 2020 legislative election against conservative Hwang Kyo-ahn, another probable presidential candidate, he was once considered a likely nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2022 South Korean presidential election.^[9][10] He lost the primary to Lee Jae-myung in October 2021.^[11]

Lee was born on 20 December 1951 in Yeonggwang County in South Jeolla Province. He is the 22nd generation descendant of Grand Prince Wanpung, the 1st son of Yi Jachun as well the older brother of Taejo who is known to be the first King of Joseon. After graduating from Seoul National University with a degree in law, he shortly worked at investment trust. From the late 1970s to 2000, he worked as a journalist for the daily Dong-a Ilbo newspaper for 21 years.^[12] From 1989 to 1993, he was stationed in Tokyo as its correspondent^[13] during which he reported the inauguration of new Japanese monarch Akihito.^[14]

Lee entered politics in 2000 "based on his ties with former President Kim Dae-jung he formed while covering politics."^[15] Following his departure from the Dong-a Ilbo he was elected as a member of the National Assembly in 2000 and served for four terms.^[5] He also served as a spokesperson for former President Roh Moo-hyun when Roh was the president-elect in 2002.^[16] Roh chose Lee's draft speech for his presidential inauguration among multiple drafts and delivered the speech without changing a word Lee wrote.^[17] Lee was only one of two parliamentarians who voted against the impeachment of President Roh despite of different party membership.^[18][19] Lee is seen as having close ties with key Japanese politicians, having served many years as a senior member in the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union. Lee speaks fluent Japanese.^[20]

He left office in the middle of his fourth term in 2014 to successfully run for governor of South Jeolla Province. Lee received around 60% approval rating throughout his term before leaving the office in May 2017.^[21] In addition to securing unprecedented amount of investment to the least developed region in the country, Lee is well known for introducing "100 won taxi" policy which improved mobility of its citizens by funding taxis to drive its citizens to the nearest bus stop for 100 won which is less than a dime.^[22] He is also known for his love of Makgeolli, a Korean traditional rice wine, which he used to facilitate communication with his provincial government employees^[23] who nicknamed him "Manager Lee" for his attention to detail.^[24]

On his first day in office, President Moon nominated Lee as his first Prime Minister of South Korea right after his inaugural ceremony. Lee resigned from South Jeolla Provincial Governorship on the same day. Until Lee's nomination was confirmed by the parliament, Hwang Kyo-ahn, the last prime minister under impeached-and-removed president Park Geun-hye, kept his place. Lee referenced Makgeolli when emphasising his intention to work with opposition parties^[25] and for the people.^[26]

On 25 June, Lee urged North Korea to release their prisoners. On 27 July, he criticized the accord regarding ‘comfort women’.^[27] On 16 August, Lee reacted negatively to calls for South Korea to possess nuclear weapons, saying the move would undermine Seoul's calls for North Korea to denuclearize, trigger a nuclear arms race and put the country under international sanctions. Reflecting such calls, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party adopted a demand for the redeployment of US tactical nuclear arms as its official party line during a general meeting of its lawmakers.^[28] On 29 November, Lee raised concerns that cryptocurrencies were corrupting the youth of South Korea, remarking “There are cases in which young Koreans including students are jumping in to make quick money and virtual currencies are used in illegal activities like drug dealing or multi-level marketing for frauds”.^{[citation needed]}

On 9 March 2021, exactly a year before the 2022 South Korean presidential election, Lee resigned as the leader of his party, triggering a leadership by-election and effectively announcing his candidacy for president. He continued to lead his party's campaign for the 2021 South Korean by-elections.^[61] After the party suffered massive defeats, all remaining members of the party leadership resigned, and Lee announced he would have some time for self-reflection.^[59] After new leadership members were elected in May 2021, he met with representatives of SMEs and large corporations urging them to take part in solving youth unemployment and breaking his silence.^[65][66] Lee was initially described as the establishment favorite for his party's nomination.^[11]

On 10 October 2021, Lee lost the primary to Lee Jae-myung, finishing in second place with 39.14% of the vote.^[11] Following the announcement of the results, Lee Nak-yeon's campaign stated they would appeal them, arguing that the votes of Chung Sye-kyun and Kim Doo-kwan should have been included in the final result, in which case Lee Jae-myung's vote share would have been reduced to 48.38%, setting off a runoff.^[67] However, party chairman Song Young-gil rejected the appeal, stating that the specific clause of excluding votes received by withdrawn candidates was approved during the 2020 Democratic Party of Korea leadership election.^[68] On 13 October, Lee formally conceded and pledged to help the party win in the March election.^[69]

This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (December 2023)

Lee is married with a son. Lee Nak-yon's bon-gwan is the Jeonju Yi clan. He is also the 22nd-generation descendant of Grand Prince Wanpung who was the elder half-brother of King Taejo of Joseon, the founder of Joseon Kingdom. He is a member of the South Korean Presbyterian Church.