The 37th Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (first female prime minister)
| Life | 1944 |
| Era | 현대 |
| Clan | 청주 한씨 |
Han Myeong-sook is a South Korean politician born in 1944 in Pyongyang. After graduating from Ewha Womans University with a degree in French literature, she was active in the women's and civic movements before entering politics, and was imprisoned in 1979 for violating the Anti-Communist Law before being released under a special pardon in 1981.
She entered the National Assembly as a proportional-representation lawmaker for the Millennium Democratic Party in 2000, then served as the first Minister of Gender Equality (2001-2003) and Minister of Environment (2003-2004). In 2004 she was elected to the 17th National Assembly for the Uri Party from Ilsan-gu (gap), Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.
From April 20, 2006 to March 7, 2007 she served as the 37th Prime Minister of South Korea, becoming the first woman to hold the office in the country's constitutional history. She declared her candidacy for the 2007 presidential election before withdrawing to unify behind candidate Lee Hae-chan.