| Post: | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Insignia: | Emblem of the Government of the Republic of Korea.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 80px |
| Insigniacaption: | Emblem of the Government of Republic of Korea |
| Incumbent: | Cho Tae-yul |
| Incumbentsince: | 11 January 2024 |
| Department: | Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Member Of: | State Council of South Korea |
| Reports To: | President of South Korea |
| Appointer: | President |
| Deputy: | State Minister of Foreign Affairs |
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The minister is responsible for implementing South Korea's foreign policy.
The current minister for foreign affairs is Cho Tae-yeol, who took office in January 2024.[1]
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | President | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
| 1 | Jang Taek-sang Korean: 장택상 | 15 August 1948 | 24 December 1948 | Syngman Rhee | ||
| 2 | Ben C. Lim Korean: 임병직 | 25 December 1948 | 15 April 1951 | |||
| 3 | Byun Young-tae Korean: 변영태 | 16 April 1951 | 28 July 1955 | |||
| 4 | Cho Chung-whan Korean: 조정환 | 29 July 1955 | 21 December 1959 | |||
| — | Choi Kyu-hah Korean: 최규하 | 22 December 1959 | 24 April 1960 | |||
| 5 | Her Chung Korean: 허정 | 25 April 1960 | 19 August 1960 | Yun Bo-seon | ||
| 6 | Chung Il-hyung Korean: 정일형 | 23 August 1960 | 20 May 1961 | |||
| 7 | Kim Hong-il Korean: 김홍일 | 21 May 1961 | 21 July 1961 | |||
| 8 | Song Yo-chan Korean: 송요찬 | 22 July 1961 | 10 October 1961 | |||
| 9 | Choi Duk-shin Korean: 최덕신 | 11 October 1961 | 15 March 1963 | |||
Park Chung Hee | ||||||
| 10 | Kim Yong-shik Korean: 김용식 | 16 March 1963 | 16 December 1963 | |||
| 11 | Chung Il-kwon Korean: 정일권 | 17 December 1963 | 24 July 1964 | Park Chung Hee | ||
| 12 | Lee Tong-won Korean: 이동원 | 25 July 1964 | 26 December 1966 | |||
| (11) | Chung Il-kwon Korean: 정일권 | 27 December 1966 | 29 June 1967 | |||
| 13 | Choi Kyu-hah Korean: 최규하 | 30 June 1967 | 3 June 1971 | |||
| (10) | Kim Yong-shik Korean: 김용식 | 4 June 1971 | 2 December 1973 | |||
| 14 | Kim Dong-jo Korean: 김동조 | 3 December 1973 | 18 December 1975 | |||
| 15 | Pak Tongjin Korean: 박동진 | 19 December 1975 | 1 September 1980 | |||
Choi Kyu-hah | ||||||
| 16 | Lho Shin-yong Korean: 노신영 | 2 September 1980 | 1 June 1982 | Chun Doo-hwan | ||
| 17 | Lee Bum-suk Korean: 이범석 | 2 June 1982 | 9 October 1983 | |||
| 18 | Lee Won-kyung Korean: 이원경 | 15 October 1983 | 26 August 1986 | |||
| 19 | Choi Kwang-soo Korean: 최광수 | 26 August 1986 | 5 December 1988 | |||
Roh Tae-woo | ||||||
| 20 | Choi Ho-joong Korean: 최호중 | 5 December 1988 | 27 December 1990 | |||
| 21 | Lee Sang-ock Korean: 이상옥 | 27 December 1990 | 26 February 1993 | |||
| 22 | Han Sung-joo Korean: 한승주 | 26 February 1993 | 24 December 1994 | Kim Young-sam | ||
| 23 | Gong Ro-myung Korean: 공로명 | 24 December 1994 | 7 November 1996 | |||
| 24 | Yoo Chong-ha Korean: 유종하 | 7 November 1996 | 3 March 1998 | |||
| 25 | Park Chung-soo Korean: 박정수 | 3 March 1998 | 4 August 1998 | Kim Dae-jung | ||
| 26 | Hong Soon-young Korean: 홍순영 | 4 August 1998 | 14 January 2000 | |||
| 27 | Lee Joung-binn Korean: 이정빈 | 14 January 2000 | 26 March 2001 | |||
| 28 | Han Seung-soo Korean: 한승수 | 26 March 2001 | 4 February 2002 | |||
| 29 | Choi Sung-hong Korean: 최성홍 | 4 February 2002 | 27 February 2003 | |||
| 30 | Yoon Young-kwan Korean: 윤영관 | 27 February 2003 | 17 January 2004 | Roh Moo-hyun | ||
| 31 | Ban Ki-moon Korean: 반기문 | 17 January 2004 | 10 November 2006 | |||
| 32 | Song Min-soon Korean: 송민순 | 10 November 2006 | 29 February 2008 | |||
| 33 | Yu Myung-hwan Korean: 유명환 | 29 February 2008 | 4 September 2010 | Lee Myung-bak | ||
| 34 | Kim Sung-hwan Korean: 김성환 | 8 October 2010 | 11 March 2013 | |||
| 35 | Yun Byung-se Korean: 윤병세 | 11 March 2013 | 18 June 2017 | Park Geun-hye | ||
| 36 | Kang Kyung-wha Korean: 강경화 | 18 June 2017 | 8 February 2021 | Moon Jae-in | ||
| 37 | Chung Eui-yong Korean: 정의용 | 9 February 2021 | 12 May 2022 | |||
| 38 | Park Jin Korean: 박진 | 12 May 2022 | 10 January 2024 | Yoon Suk-yeol | ||
| 39 | Cho Tae-yul Korean: 조태열 | 11 January 2024 | incumbent | |||