Lee Jae-myung, born 22 December 1963 in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, became President of South Korea on 4 June 2025 after winning the snap presidential election triggered by the impeachment of Yoon Suk-yeol. His extraordinary biographical arc — from teenage factory worker to lawyer to mayor to provincial governor to President — defines a remarkable Korean political story.
His Parents
Father: Lee Gyeong-Hee — labourer; died 1986.
Mother: Gu Ho-im — homemaker; died 2020.
His Siblings
Lee is one of seven children. His relations with several of his siblings have been famously difficult — particularly with his elder brother Lee Jae-seon, whose recorded phone conversations with their mother became a major political scandal in 2021.
His Childhood
The family moved from Andong to Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, when Lee was 13. He worked in a glove factory as a teenager and lost partial use of his left arm in a workplace accident. He passed his high-school equivalency exam by self-study and studied law at Chungang University.
His Wife: Kim Hyekyung
Kim Hyekyung, born 1966, is a Korean pianist. She and Lee married in 1991.
Their Sons
The couple have two sons, born in the early 1990s, kept deliberately private.
The Lee Family Tree at a Glance
Family Origins: Andong, North Gyeongsang Province; relocated to Seongnam at 13.
Parents: Lee Gyeong-Hee (labourer, died 1986); Gu Ho-im (homemaker, died 2020).
Siblings: Lee is one of seven; relations strained with elder brother Lee Jae-seon (d. 2017).
Wife: Kim Hyekyung (b. 1966); married 1991.
Children: Two sons.
Lee Jae-myung:
- Born 22 December 1963, Andong
- Worked in a glove factory as a teenager; lost partial use of left arm in a workplace accident
- Passed high school equivalency by self-study (1980)
- Chungang University (BA Law, 1986); passed bar exam (1986)
- Human-rights lawyer in Seongnam (1989–2005)
- Mayor of Seongnam City (2010–2018)
- Governor of Gyeonggi Province (2018–2021)
- Leader of Democratic Party of Korea (2022–2025)
- President of South Korea from 4 June 2025
What the Lee Family Story Teaches Us
A labourer father who died young. A homemaker mother who lived to see her son rise to politics. Seven siblings, some of whom have publicly disagreed with him. A childhood marked by factory work and a permanent arm injury. A wife who is a pianist. Two sons kept entirely out of the public eye. From a poor seven-child household in 1960s Andong came a President of South Korea.
For every family — large or small, famous or otherwise — the Lee story carries the same lesson. Difficult family relationships are part of the record, not gaps in it. Lee's strained relationships with siblings have been publicly aired, including through audio recordings released by family members themselves. Write down what is true, even when complicated. The tree records reality, not idealisation.
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