--- description: Find out why Lee Jae-myung is one of the 100 most influential people of 2025. title: Lee Jae-myung: The 100 Most Influential People of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0e473a99c3e3784/6998c5bec8dcb46c5cb5008a/time100-2025-lee-jae-myung.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 16, 2025 # Lee Jae-myung ## Video: TIME100 2025 | See Every Honoree [Watch (HLS stream): TIME100 2025 | See Every Honoree](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6HpL33vZ.m3u8) (3:55)  _Published 2025-04-16. See every 2025 TIME100 honoree._ by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/) ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large  South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024\. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024\. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)Lee Jin-man—AP Nothing about Lee Jae-myung’s political rise has been easy. Born the fifth of seven children to a farming family, Lee walked 10 miles round trip to elementary school daily, and later had his wrist crushed in a pressing machine while working underage in a factory. After stints as a mayor and governor, Lee lost South Korea’s 2022 presidential election to Yoon Suk-yeol, and [was stabbed](https://time.com/6553798/south-korea-lee-jae-myung-stabbed-attacker-politics/ "undefined") in the neck two years later by a deranged critic. Now, the unlikely arc of Lee’s story seems poised to end with his becoming his country’s next leader. Lee led the charge for Yoon’s impeachment following the then President’s declaration of martial law in December, livestreaming himself climbing the National Assembly fence to bypass a police blockade to help repeal the order. As leader of South Korea’s opposition, Lee is the clear favorite to win the coming election, though his reward will be dealing with an increasingly belligerent North Korea and an escalating trade war. Given the challenges he’s already overcome, there’s little chance Lee is cowed. “There are many ways that you can learn about the world,” Lee told TIME in 2022\. “But actually living it yourself, experiencing it, is a different thing.” _Campbell is a TIME editor-at-large_ Lee Jae-myung Is on the 2025 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273790/lee-jae-myung/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273790/lee-jae-myung/"},"headline":"Lee Jae-myung","datePublished":"2025-04-16T10:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:46:12.115Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273790/lee-jae-myung/","keywords":["TIME100","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","T100Leaders2025"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0e473a99c3e3784/6998c5bec8dcb46c5cb5008a/time100-2025-lee-jae-myung.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"creator":"Charlie Campbell","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0e473a99c3e3784/6998c5bec8dcb46c5cb5008a/time100-2025-lee-jae-myung.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273790/lee-jae-myung/","name":"Lee Jae-myung"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 2025 | See Every Honoree","description":"See every 2025 TIME100 honoree.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6HpL33vZ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-04-16T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6HpL33vZ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273790/lee-jae-myung/","duration":"PT3M55S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273790/lee-jae-myung/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```