Lee Jae-myung Height, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Lee Jae-myung

• He was born on 8 December 1963, but his father registered it late on 22 December 1964.

• As a child, he grew up in poverty and missed all social functions because his family had no money.

• His elementary school teachers helped him financially so that he could go on school trips and join community programs.

• Reportedly, one of his favourite childhood activities was fishing with friends.

• After elementary school, middle and high school were not free in South Korea.

• His father spent all of his money in gambling.

• After that, the family moved from Andong to Seongnam for work. The government forced many poor people to live and work in the Seongnam industries.

• He worked in a handmade necklace factory and left middle school.

• After the factory closed down, he worked at Dongma Rubber, where he injured his finger.

• As a child, he used fake names to work since it was not legal.

• He then worked in the Daeyang Industry, where his wrist joint was crushed by a machine. The injury was not treated properly, so it permanently disabled his arm.

• As a registered disabled person, he was denied service in the military.

  

  Lee Jae-myung in 1976

• When Lee Jae-myung was working as a labourer, he saw other students in school uniforms, which motivated him to study again. He took special classes and passed the middle school exam in 1978.

• In 1981, he received a high school diploma and also passed the university entrance exam.

• He then received a scholarship from Chung-Ang University.
  

  Lee Jae-myung’s identification slip for his college entrance exam for the academic year 1982

• While growing up in poverty, his experiences shaped his political beliefs, which focused on fighting for his rights and helping the poor.

• In 1986, he passed the bar exam.

• The next two years, he received training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

• Lee Jae-myung often spoke against the dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan.

• He wished to become a judge or prosecutor. However, after hearing a speech by Roh Moo-hyun, he inspired to become a human rights and labour lawyer.

• He then started a law office in Seongnam.

• Lee Jae-myung supported labour and human rights and worked with labour counselling centres in Incheon and Gwangju.

• In 1995, he organised a civic movement titled the Seongnam Citizens’ Association.

• Lee Jae-myung became popular during the Park View case, which involved corruption in the land and building permits given to government officials in Bundang.

• In 2002, he led a movement to build a public hospital in Seongnam.

• Grand National Party rejected his plan after which his group protested.

• He was then blamed for harassing public officials.

• After that, he decided to join politics.

• On 23 August 2005, Lee joined the Uri Party.

• In the 2006 local elections, he contested for mayor of Seongnam but lost. He received 23.75% of the vote, due to the unpopularity of the Uri Party and President Roh Moo-hyun at the time.

• In the 2007 presidential election, Lee Jae-myung worked as the senior deputy chief for Chung Dong-young, the candidate of the Grand Unified Democratic New Party.

• In the 2008 general election, he contested for the Seongnam Jungwon A district but lost to his opponent, Cho Sung-jun.

• He was then nominated for Seongnam Bundang A, but lost again. He received 33% of the vote.

• After that election, he became the deputy spokesperson of the Democratic Party. He was appointed by party leader Chung Sye-kyun.

• Apart from being a politician, he is also an author. He has published many books, such as Make Hope Through Hardness (in Korean; 2010), Lee Jae-myung, Revolutionise Korea (in Korean; 2017), and My Factory Boy’s Diary (in Korean; 2018).

• In the 2010 local elections, Lee Jae-myung contested for mayor of Seongnam on the ticket of the Democratic Party and won with 51.16% of the vote. He defeated Hwang Jun-gi in the elections.

• He then delivered his first speech as the 19th mayor of Seongnam city.

• After that, he started working at a small office and converted the older luxury office into a book café.

• At his first press conference, Lee Jae-myung announced a suspension on city spending and debt repayment because Seongnam was heavily in debt.

• One major debt was 520 billion South Korean won owed for the Pangyo project. He renegotiated the amount and paid off using municipal bonds.

• After that, Lee installed CCTV in his mayoral office. He claimed that many people used to bring money in envelopes.

• Lee Jae-myung then began improving welfare in the city, especially strengthening the Seongnam Medical Centre. He started giving free school uniforms to students.

• He introduced a youth dividend scheme and started a basic income for young citizens.

• His eldest brother lost one leg in an industrial accident.

• His youngest sister, Jae-ok, worked as a cleaner in Anyang City. She died in 2014.

• That same year, he was re-elected as mayor and received 55.1% of the total votes.

• Lee Jae-myung banned dog meat and closed dog slaughterhouses in Moran Market after years of public debate.

• In 2016, he told a Japanese media reporter that Japan was South Korea’s de facto military enemy and could invade if it strengthened its military.

• He often criticises Japanese militarism, but supports the GSOMIA military agreement between South Korea and Japan to maintain good ties with the U.S.

• In 2016, he requested shop owners to stop killing dogs live in the market.

• That same year, he made headlines when he criticised President Park during the 2016 South Korean political scandal protests.

• He organised an 11-day hunger strike against Park’s plan to change local government funding, which hurt many Buddhist groups.

• As a mayor, he fulfilled 270 out of 287 promises. He expanded medical centres, the youth dividend programs, and distributedfree uniforms.

• In 2017, during the general elections, Lee stood second in public polls after Moon Jae-in.

• Lee Jae-myung became known for his progressive ideas within the Democratic Party.

• After that, Hwang Kyo-ahn replaced President Park, which dropped Lee’s popularity.

• In the party primary, Lee Jae-myung received 347,647 votes and stood third. Moon Jae-in won the elections and received more than 936,000 votes.

• Later, Moon Jae-in won the presidency and defeated his opponents.

• Lee lost the presidential nomination and contested for Governor of Gyeonggi Province in the 2018 local elections.

• The same year, actress Kim Boo-sun stated in the media that she was in a relationship with Lee from 2007 to 2009.

• In April 2018, he won the Democratic Party primary and received 60% of the total votes. He beat his opponent, Jeon Hae-cheol.

• He then defeated the sitting governor, Nam Kyung-pil, with 56% of the total vote and became the first liberal Governor of Gyeonggi Province in 20 years.

• In 2018, during the Gyeonggi election, a Twitter account was accused of spreading false information. The police claimed that it belonged to Lee’s wife. The case was dropped due to a lack of evidence.

• During the early stages of COVID-19, he launched a mobile application to track COVID-19 cases.

• In March 2020, he talked to the founder of the Shincheonji Church to help in testing and tracing the virus.

• He ordered that all foreign passengers in the province should get tested for COVID-19.
  

  Lee Jae-myung in 2020

• In 2021, Lee Jae-myung claimed on social media that he would stay away from the Moon Jae-in’s feminist policies to gain support from young men.

• Other politicians criticised him for being anti-feminist or misogynistic.

• Lee Jae-myung then opposed the idea of abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

• On 22 August 2021, Lee Jae-myung announced a detailed foreign policy plan.

• Once, during a political speech, he supported trade ties and friendly relations with the United States.

• He appreciated the presence of the US military in South Korea. However, he criticised US for deploying THAAD missile system.

• He added that South Korea should make new decisions about its alliance with the US and denuclearisation efforts with North Korea.

• According to him, US is the only official partner of South Korea.
  

  Lee Jae-myung at the Basic Income Expo

• He believes that South Korea should not choose between the U.S. and China rather it could keep good diplomacy with both the nations.

• On 10 October 2021, he was appointed as the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea.

• On 25 October 2021, he resigned as governor.

• He then contested the 2022 presidential election and lost.

• In June 2022, he contested and won a seat in the National Assembly for Incheon Gyeyang District B in by-elections.

• On 28 August 2022, he started working as the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.

• In 2022, he was blamed for corporate bribery and favouritism during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam.

• He then blamed China for stealing Korean culture when a Chinese performer wore a hanbok at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

• In 2022, he claimed that he would sink the Chinese fishing boats if they enter South Korean waters illegally.

• In February 2023, a case was filed for his arrest. The case was reportedly approved by 30 members of his party. However, the National Assembly rejected the request.

• In March 2023, Lee Jae-myung was accused of bribery, corruption in real estate deals and a football club.

• In September 2023, he was sued for favouritism in a land deal in which worth $8 million were sent to North Korea. The National Assembly accepted the case but a court denied the warrant and he was released.

• On 2 January 2024, he was stabbed in the neck when he was speaking to reporters at a new airport construction site in Busan.

• The attacker was arrested at the scene.

• During police investigations, the attacker told the police that he wanted to kill Lee.
  

  Lee Jae-myung pictured after the assassination attempt

• In June 2024, he was accused of arranging $8 million in illegal payments to North Korea to set up a visit to Pyongyang. He denied all charges.

• In 2024, Lee Jae-myung got worldwide attention when President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, and he tried to stop the National Assembly from meeting by using the military.

• He went to the Assembly building and made a live video. He climbed over the fence and crossed the soldiers.
  

  Lee Jae-myung while climbing over the fence of the Assembly building

• Lee Jae-myung then requested the citizens to gather at the Assembly building for a protest.

• He then organised protests against President Yoon outside the Assembly and claimed that Yoon was disloyal.

• In November 2024, he was accused of lying during the 2022 election campaign and was suspended for a year. Later, he was cleared of all the charges.

• On 14 December 2024, the National Assembly officially impeached President Yoon.

• In the same year, Lee Jae-myung criticised President Yoon for harmful relations with China. He said that it led to a trade deficit with China for the first time in many years.

• He said that South Korea should not interfere in China-Taiwan issues and should stay neutral.

• Lee Jae-myung supports a two-track strategy with Japan. He promotes economic and diplomatic cooperation and manages historical issues and national security.

• He opposes military drills with Japan and calls supporters of such drills ‘pro-Japan extremists.’

• In March 2025, the Seoul High Court cleared Lee Jae-myung of charges of breaking election laws. However, on 1 May 2025, after the prosecutors’ appeal, the Supreme Court cancelled that decision.

• The case was then appealed the Seoul High Court.

• In March 2025, the Seoul High Court released him in the case, but the Supreme Court sent it back for retrial.

• Lee was fined ₩3 million when he did not appear in the Seongnam case.

• After that, he was again fined ₩5 million for not appearing in the court.

• His retrial was then postponed to 18 June 2025.

• On 9 April 2025, five days after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached, Lee Jae-myung resigned as the leader of the Democratic Party.

• On 10 April 2025, he announced that he would contest for president for the third time.

• On 27 April 2025, Lee Jae-myung won the Democratic Party’s primary and became its official presidential candidate.

• On 3 June 2025, he won the presidential election with 49.42% of the total votes.

• He was appointed as the President of South Korea on 4 June 2025.

• He then appointed Kim Min-seok as Prime Minister.

• He apoointed Kang Yu-jung, a campaign spokeswoman, as presidential spokesperson.

• Hwang In-kwon was appointed as the head of the Presidential Security Service.

• He kept most ministers from the previous government, except for the Justice Minister, Park Sung-jae.

• Lee Jae-myung then began living at the Yongsan Presidential Office, but planned to move to the old presidential residence, Cheong Wa Dae.

• On 5 June 2025, he cancelled Constitutional Court nominations made by the former acting president. He ordered the Fisheries Ministry to shift its office to Busan, as promised during his campaign.
  

  Lee Jae-myung after becoming the president of South Korea

• Lee Jae-myung supports centre-left economic policies. He supports state-led economic revival to solve low growth of Korea and problems of inequality.

• His main economic plan is called Transformative and Fair Growth. It focuses on reducing inequality between large and small businesses.

• It supports platform workers, irregular employees, inequality in real estate, encourages fair competition, investments in a Green New Deal, digital transformation, education, and expansion of social safety networks.

• He supports less taxes in real estate and partial deregulation for businesses.

• Lee Jae-myung often praises Park Chung Hee, a military personnel of South Korea.

• Left-wing parties such as the Justice Party often blamed him for forgetting progressive values. The conservative rivals mocked Lee as being closer to their party than to liberal ideals.

• In his 2022 presidential campaign, he promised to introduce a Universal Basic Income (UBI) for all citizens. He used to run similar income programs when he was a mayor and governor.

• Lee Jae-myung claimed that initially, the young people, farmers, and fishermen would be granted basic income.

• He promised basic loans for all citizens so that anyone could borrow up to ₩10,000,000 from the government at an interest rate of 3%.

• He believes data is key to digital progress. While working as the Gyeonggi governor, he converted government documents from Hangeul software to Open Document Format (ODF).

• Lee Jae-myung introduced the world’s first ‘data dividend and gave some data business profits back to the users who created the data.

• He used this data to fight against African swine fever and abolished illegal construction companies.

• According to him, big technological companies and their control could stop fair digital growth.

• He supports free trade policies and opposes U.S. restrictions on South Korean semiconductor products.

• He advocates a holistic approach in education sector. He opposes the only focus on grades and scores and believes that the performance of middle school students should be judged by teachers by overall evaluations.

• According to him, a basic math program should be started in high school to help weak students.

• He supports the use of AI tools for learning and teaching, especially in mathematics.

• He claimed that outside school programs inculcates teamwork, curiosity, and confidence in students. This outdoor program would be conducted for about 10 hours each semester.

• Lee Jae-myung works for the human rights of foreign workers, but opposes immigration.

• His political party opposed a separate immigration office under the Ministry of Justice.

• In 2022, during the general elections, he supported anti-discrimination laws and opposed the removal of the sodomy law of military.

• He had never supported LGBTQ rights.

• Some noted media houses often claims that Lee is against feminism.

• During a campaign, he announced tough punishment for sex crimes and help for single women living alone.

• He assured better workplace protection for women, more sanitary pad subsidies, free HPV vaccines, and restructuring gynaecology departments.

• During the Russia-Ukraine war, he opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

• Lee Jae-myung maintains friendly relations with Russia and did not criticise it.

• He blamed Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s policies as incompetent and provocative. He opposed sending weapons to Ukraine and said that it could harm South Korea’s economy.

• He is often spotted enjoying alcoholic beverages on various occasions.
  

  Lee Jae-myung (left) while enjoying alcoholic beverages

• Lee Jae-myung is an animal lover and has a pet dog. He often shares pictures of his pet on social media.

  

  Lee Jae-myung with his pet