Lee Haechan (born July 10, 1952) is a former Prime Minister of South Korea. He was nominated by president Roh Moo-hyun on June 8, 2004, confirmed by the National Assembly on June 29, and took office on June 30. He is a member of the liberal Uri Party, and was elected five times for the National Assembly. On March 14, 2006, he resigned amidst the so called golf game scandal. Hangul (Korean: 한글, hangeul) is the native alphabet of the Korean language, as opposed to the non-alphabetic hanja system borrowed from China. ... It has been suggested that Sino-Korean be merged into this article or section. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean (Korean: 국어의 로마자 표기법; 國語의 로마字 表記法) is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced (a modified) McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 174 days remaining. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Prime Minister of South Korea (국무총리 ; Gukmuchongni) is appointed by the President of South Korea with the National Assemblys approval. ... Roh Moo-hyun, born September 1, 1946, has been the President of South Korea since February 25, 2003. ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... The National Assembly is the South Korean parliament. ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 184 days remaining. ... The Uri Party (Korean hangul: 열린 우리당; hanja: 열린 우리黨; revised: Yeollin Uri-dang; McCune-Reischauer: Yŏllin Uri-dang) is a political party in South Korea. ... March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in Leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

He also served as the minister of education under former president Kim Dae-jung from 1998 to 1999, presiding over controversial education reforms including revamping the college entrance process and lowering the retirement age of teachers. The first reform in particular, which at the time was summed up in the slogan that being good at one thing was enough to get into college, was criticised for allegedly lowering dramatically the scholastic competence of the so-called "Lee Hae-chan generation" of then-high school students. Kim Dae-jung (born December 3, 1925) is a South Korean politician. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

His nomination as prime minister met some resistance due to his record as minister of education, which many consider a failure. Since taking office, however, Lee has proved an able prime minister, being described by some as the most powerful prime minister South Korea has seen.

On March 1st, 2006, the Korean Railroad Workers Union and Seoul Subway Union entered a strike together. The strike of railroad and subway at the same time proved to be a fatal blow at the nation's economic activity, especially Seoul area, where traffic heavily depend on subway, which is controlled by these two unions. Prime Minister Lee was supposed to command the situation and mediate the strike; however, he was playing golf at Busan area with local businessmen, and this caused massive distaste and among Korean people against Lee for not taking care of the government and people. Seoul (IPA: , (help· info)) is the capital of South Korea (the Republic of Korea) and one of the most populous cities in the world. ... Busan tower by night Haeundae beach at dawn, February 2005 Busan Metropolitan City, also commonly referred to as Pusan, is the largest harbor city in Korea. ...

Lee is also a relative of the recently deceased Prince Yi Gu, the son of Korea's last crown prince. Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess His Imperial Highness Prince Gu (李玖 이구, born 29 December 1931, in Tokyo, Japan) is the 29th head of the Korean Imperial Household and grandson of Emperor Gojong of the Korean Joseon Dynasty. ...

See also

• Politics of South Korea
• List of Koreans
• List of Korea-related topics