Han Myeong-sook

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Her Excellency Han Myeong-sook
한명숙
Han in 2006
Chairperson of the Democratic United Party
In office 16 January 2012 – 12 April 2012
Preceded by	Won Hye-young Lee Yong-sun (acting)
Succeeded by	Moon Sung-keun
Prime Minister of South Korea
In office 19 April 2006 – 7 March 2007
President	Roh Moo-hyun
Preceded by	Lee Hae-chan Han Duck-soo (acting)
Succeeded by	Kwon O-kyu (acting) Han Duck-soo
Minister of Environment
In office 27 February 2003 – 16 February 2004
Prime Minister	Goh Kun
Preceded by	Kim Myung-ja
Succeeded by	Kwak Kyul-ho
Minister of Gender Equality
In office 29 January 2001 – 26 February 2003
Prime Minister	Lee Han-dong Chang Sang (acting) Jeon Yun-churl (acting) Chang Dae-hwan (acting) Kim Suk-soo
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Ji Eun-hee
Personal details
Born	(1944-03-24) 24 March 1944 (age 81) Heijō, Korea, Empire of Japan
Political party	National Congress for New Politics (Before 2000) Millennium Democratic Party (2000–2003) Uri Party (2003–2007) United New Democratic Party (2007–2008) Democratic Party (2008–2011) Democratic United Party (2011–2014) Minjoo Party (2014–2015) Independent[1](2015–present)
Spouse	Park Seong-jun
Alma mater	Ewha Womans University
Signature
Korean name
Hangul	한명숙
Hanja	韓明淑
Revised Romanization	Han Myeongsuk
McCune–Reischauer	Han Myŏngsuk
Korean royal family (Cheongju Han clan)

Han Myeong-sook (Korean: 한명숙; Korean pronunciation: [han mjʌŋsʰuk]; born March 24, 1944) is a South Korean politician who served as the prime minister of South Korea from 2006 to 2007. A former member of the United New Democratic Party (UNDP), she was South Korea's first female prime minister (second female prime minister overall if the acting premiership of Chang Sang is included).

Born in modern-day Pyongyang, Han graduated from Ewha Womans University in Seoul with a degree in French literature. In 2000, she was elected as a member of the National Assembly for Ilsan-gab. She served as Prime Minister of South Korea under Roh Moo-hyun from 2006 until her resignation on March 7, 2007, to begin her presidential candidacy. After losing her party's nomination, Han ran for a seat in the National Assembly, but was ultimately defeated. However, in January 2012, she was elected leader of the Democratic United Party (DUP) before the April legislative elections, in which they failed to defeat the ruling Saenuri Party. Han stepped down as party leader in April 2012.^[2] In August 2015, Han was convicted of receiving illegal donations and sentenced to two years in prison. She was granted special amnesty by the government and her constitutional rights were restored in 2021.