Korea in the 2020s: Pandemic and K-Content

As COVID-19 spread in Korea from 2020, social distancing and school closures reshaped daily life. Bong Joon-ho's film Parasite won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards, becoming the first non-English-language film to win Best Picture. After President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on 3 December 2024, the National Assembly voted to impeach him; following the Constitutional Court's ruling removing him from office in April 2025, an early presidential election was held on 3 June and won by Lee Jae-myung.

Year by year

Korea in 2020

After the first case was confirmed in January, COVID-19 spread widely, centered on Daegu, and masks and social distancing became part of daily life. Korean pop culture drew worldwide attention as “Parasite” won the Osca…

• Jan 20South Korea announced its first confirmed case of COVID-19.
• FebConfirmed cases surged due to a cluster linked to a Shincheonji Church of Jesus gathering in Daegu.
• Apr 15In the legislative election, the Democratic Party and its satellite Platform Party won 180 of 300 seats, with turnout of 66.2%, the highest since 1992.

Korea in 2021

Amid the pandemic, April by-elections handed the mayoralties of Seoul and Busan to People Power Party candidates, and a phased “return to normal” began in November. The homegrown Nuri rocket made its first launch, and N…

• Apr 7In by-elections, the People Power Party’s Oh Se-hoon won the Seoul mayoralty with 57.50% of the vote and Park Heong-joon won in Busan.
• Jul 26The World Heritage Committee inscribed “Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats” on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
• Aug 13Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, imprisoned in connection with the influence-peddling scandal, was released on parole.

Korea in 2022

Yoon Suk Yeol won the March presidential election by 0.73 percentage points and took office in May, opening the Cheong Wa Dae compound to the public. The Nuri rocket reached orbit on its second launch, but August floods…

• Mar 3A major wildfire broke out in Uljin, threatening the Hanul nuclear power plant and an LNG facility and burning more than 20,000 hectares.
• Mar 9Yoon Suk Yeol of the People Power Party defeated Lee Jae-myung by 0.73 percentage points, the narrowest margin in South Korean presidential history.
• May 10With Yoon Suk Yeol’s inauguration, Cheong Wa Dae ceased to serve as the presidential residence and was opened to the public.

Korea in 2023

The Nuri rocket successfully launched its first working satellites, and from June ages for legal and administrative purposes were unified under the international system. The World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum was cut sh…

• May 25The Nuri rocket succeeded on its third launch, carrying working satellites including Next Generation Small Satellite 2.
• Jun 28A law took effect requiring international (completed-year) ages instead of traditional Korean ages in official documents.
• JulDuring monsoon downpours, a Miho River embankment gave way and the Gungpyeong No. 2 Underpass in Osong, Cheongju, flooded, killing 14 people.

Korea in 2024

Mass resignations by trainee doctors protesting a medical school quota increase strained the health system, and the opposition kept its majority in the April legislative election. Han Kang became the first Korean to win…

• Jan 2Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed while visiting the planned Gadeokdo airport site in Busan.
• FebThousands of residents and interns resigned en masse in protest at the government’s plan to expand medical school admissions, disrupting hospital care.
• Apr 10In the legislative election, opposition parties led by the Democratic Party retained their majority in the National Assembly.

Korea in 2025

A sitting president was arrested for the first time, the Constitutional Court removed Yoon Suk Yeol in April, and Lee Jae-myung won the early election in June. Huge wildfires in the southeast destroyed Gounsa temple in…

• Jan 15The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials took President Yoon Suk Yeol into custody, the first arrest of a sitting president in the nation’s history.
• Mar 21Wildfires starting in Sancheong spread to more than 20 simultaneous blazes across the southeast, including Uiseong and Andong; on March 25 Gounsa, a Silla-era temple in Uiseong, was destroyed.
• Apr 4The Constitutional Court unanimously (8–0) upheld the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, removing him from office.

Korea in 2026

Trials stemming from the martial law crisis continued, and former president Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced at first instance to life imprisonment for leading an insurrection. In the June local elections, the Democratic Par…

• Jan 16In one of the martial law-related trials, former president Yoon Suk Yeol was convicted of abuse of power, obstruction of justice and falsification of official documents and sentenced at first instance to five years in prison (raised to seven years on appeal).
• Jan 21Former prime minister Han Duck-soo was convicted over his role in the martial law declaration, on charges including insurrection, perjury and falsifying and destroying official documents, and sentenced at first instance to 23 years in prison.
• Jan 28Former first lady Kim Keon Hee was sentenced at first instance to 20 months in prison for bribery and acquitted on two other charges, including stock manipulation (on appeal in April she was found guilty of stock manipulation and the term was raised to four years).