Home > National > Politics

Lee Hae-chan, former prime minister and longtime liberal stalwart, dies at 73

Published: 25 Jan. 2026, 19:54

Lee Hae-chan in 2020 as the leader of the Democratic Party [NEWS1]

Lee Hae-chan, senior vice chair of the National Peaceful Unification Advisory Council and a former prime minister, died on Sunday. He was 73.

Lee collapsed on Friday during a business trip to Vietnam. He was treated for a myocardial infarction at a local hospital but never regained consciousness.

An elder statesman of the Democratic Party, Lee’s life reflected the complexities of modern Korean history. Since joining the Peace Democratic Party in 1988, he maintained close personal and political ties with four liberal presidents. Those relationships formed the backbone of the party’s time in power, and colleagues widely regarded him as its most skilled strategist.

Lee was born in 1952 in Cheongyang County, South Chungcheong. His father, Lee In-yong, served as a local town head. In his memoirs, Lee described his childhood as comfortable. “I never had to beg my parents for anything or compete with my siblings,” he wrote. “Food was always plentiful.”

He moved to Seoul for his education, graduating from Yongsan High School before entering Seoul National University in 1971 as a textile engineering major. He soon dropped out to pursue social activism and reenrolled the following year as a sociology major.

Lee Hae-chan, left, with Seoul Mayor Cho Soon in 1995 [JOONGANG ILBO]

His college years marked the beginning of a life defined by political struggle. He joined the student movement in 1972, when President Park Chung Hee consolidated dictatorial power under the Yushin Constitution. In 1974, a court sentenced him to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the National Federation of Democratic Youth and Students, which opposed Park’s rule. He was released after one year when his sentence was commuted.

Lee worked a series of jobs before opening Gwangjang Bookstore in 1978 in Sillim-dong, in southern Seoul. In 1979, the year of the Dec. 12 military coup, he founded the publishing house Dolbegae.

Lee and Kim Dae-jung

Lee Hae-chan, fifth from right, alongside former President Kim Dae-jung, then head of the National Congress for New Politics, third from right. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Lee first met Kim Dae-jung in 1980, when Kim was under house arrest. In his memoirs, Lee recalled Kim saying that the New Military Group led by then-President Chun Doo Hwan was “more wicked” than the forces behind the May 16 coup of 1961 that brought Park to power. Kim urged caution but did not outline a plan of action.

Lee later wrote that he felt Kim lacked the will to confront the authoritarian government and concluded that he “could not trust him.”

That view shifted after Lee was arrested in June 1980 on charges of conspiring with Kim to rebel against the state. He said he changed his opinion after being “moved by [Kim’s] concluding statement” at his trial.

Lee graduated from college in 1985, 14 years after his initial enrollment. His formal political career began soon afterward. In 1988, Kim recruited him to run in the 13th general election. As the Peace Democratic Party’s candidate in Seoul’s Gwanak B constituency, Lee defeated candidates from the ruling Democratic Justice Party and the Reunification Democratic Party.

He gained national attention alongside then-lawmaker Roh Moo-hyun for his sharp questioning during parliamentary hearings into abuses committed by Chun’s regime.

During the 1997 presidential election, Lee oversaw campaign strategy for the liberal camp. Kim Dae-jung, the party’s presidential candidate, valued Lee’s ability to analyze demographics, voter turnout and generational trends. After Kim’s victory, Lee was appointed education minister at age 45.

Kim and Roh Moo-hyun

Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan with President Roh Moo-hyunin 2004 [JOONGANG ILBO]

Lee shared his most intense political years with Roh Moo-hyun. The two first worked together on the National Assembly’s Labor Committee in 1988, forging a relationship marked by mutual trust. When Lee faced the possibility of not making the Millennium Democratic Party’s candidate slate ahead of the 14th general election, Roh threatened to leave the party. “If someone like Lee Hae-chan does not get a nomination, I will leave the party too,” Roh said at the time.

Lee remained at Roh’s side through difficult moments, including the Millennium Democratic Party primaries and the 2002 presidential election, which Roh won.

Roh’s trust in Lee became evident when he appointed Lee prime minister in 2004. Lee became known as the “responsible prime minister,” a title reflecting the unusually broad authority granted by the president, in contrast to the previous practice of using prime ministers as buffers or scapegoats for political criticism.

Lee was often criticized as uncompromising. “A politician must be a complete public servant,” he wrote in his memoirs. “A public servant must be strict with others and with himself.” His blunt confrontations with the opposition earned him the nickname “yelling prime minister.” On one occasion, he warned that history would move backward if the conservative Grand National Party returned to power.

Lee Hae-chan during the Roh Moo-hyun presidency [JONGANG ILBO]

The confrontational style, he later said, was intentional. He used strong rhetoric to divert media attention after Roh publicly expressed frustration with a 2004 Constitutional Court ruling.

Lee returned to the forefront of party leadership in 2018, running for the Democratic Party chairmanship during the Moon Jae-in administration. “I wanted to finish my political career by building the party into a proper fortress,” he said. Elected chair in August under the slogan of a “20-year plan for power,” he led the party to a sweeping victory in the 2020 general election, winning 180 of the National Assembly’s 300 seats.

Lee Hae-chan's Democratic Party president election poster [SCREEN CAPTURE]

“We initially aimed for 130 seats,” he later recalled. “But the first survey in February suggested we could reach 150, and we raised the bar.”

In retirement, Lee said he was most proud of modernizing the party’s structure. He championed an online voting system for all members and proposals that strengthened the influence of core supporters in leadership elections — reforms he described as the political seeds he planted within the party.

Lee Jae Myung and Lee Hae-chan

Lee Hae-chan, left, with President Lee Jae Myung, then Democratic Party president, in 2024. [JEON MIN-KYU]

The rise of President Lee Jae Myung was Lee Hae-chan's final project, as Lee Jae Myung considered the elder Lee a political mentor. The senior Lee Hae-chan served as a powerful shield during crises. In 2018, when pro-Moon Jae-in factions pressured the then-Gyeonggi governor to leave the party, Lee Hae-chan intervened. "This is not a stage for political judgment," he said at the time.

His support continued after the party’s defeat in the 2022 presidential election. “The party has no choice but to center itself around Lee Jae Myung,” he wrote in his memoir that year. As legal investigations and leadership challenges mounted, he defended the president, describing the process as “a master sword being forged through tempering.”

President Lee Jae Myung frequently sought his advice during periods of turmoil. “Lee was the first to suggest solutions and lead public opinion when the president was in crisis,” said Moon Hee-sang, a former speaker of the National Assembly. “The president will never forget him.”

Democratic Party presidential candiate Lee Jae Myung, left, and Lee Hae-chan in 2025 [YONHAP]

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HAN YOUNG-IK, YOON SUNG-MIN [[email protected]]