The following lists events in 2025 in South Korea.
Incumbents
OfficeImageNameAssumed office / Current lengthPresident of the Republic of KoreaYoon Suk Yeol(Powers and duties suspended since 14 December 2024) Impeached on April 4Han Duck-soo(Acting President)Choi Sang-mok(Acting President)Han Duck-soo(Acting President)Lee Ju-ho(Acting President)Lee Jae-myungSpeaker of the National AssemblyWoo Won-shikChief Justice of the Supreme CourtCho Hee-daePresident of the Constitutional CourtMoon Hyungbae(Acting)Kim Hyungdu(Acting)Kim SanghwanPrime Minister of the Republic of KoreaHan Duck-soo(Powers and duties suspended from 27 December 2024 until 24 March)Choi Sang-mok(Acting Prime Minister)Lee Ju-ho(Acting Prime Minister)Kim Min-seok
Events January 1 January – A day after Acting President Choi Sang-mok appointed two justices to the Constitutional Court, the chiefs of Office of the President, the policy office, the Office of National Security, the special adviser for foreign affairs and security, and the senior secretary express their intentions to resign to Choi. 3 January – Yoon Suk Yeol residence standoff: Investigators face a standoff with the Presidential Security Service outside the presidential residence after failing to execute a warrant to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for his failed martial law attempt. 4 January – A fishing boat sinks after hitting rocks off the coast of Gageodo, killing three people on board. 8 January – Former Democratic Party of Korea leader Song Young-gil is sentenced to two years' imprisonment for accepting illegal political funding from seven businesspeople. 10 January – Park Jong-jun resigns as head of the Presidential Security Service amid an investigation into the agency's role in obstructing President Yoon's arrest on 3 January. 14 January – At least 43 vehicles figure in a pileup caused by icy conditions along the Seoul-Munsan Expressway near Goyang, injuring nine people. The first formal hearings into the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol are held by the Constitutional Court of Korea. 15 January – Arrest of Yoon Suk Yeol: Yoon Suk Yeol becomes the first sitting president of South Korea to be arrested following his imposition of martial law in December. 17 January – South Korea opens an embassy in Cuba for the first time. 18 January – 2025 Seoul Western District Court riot: Supporters of Yoon Suk Yeol storm the Seoul Western District Court after the latter extends his detention. 21 January – A civilian employee of the Korea Defense Intelligence Command is sentenced by a court-martial to 20 years' imprisonment for providing information on undercover South Korean military agents to a suspected Chinese agent in return for 400 million won. 22 January – The government announces a reduction in subsidies to biomass enterprises and an end to supporting the construction of new biomass plants amid criticism over its impact on deforestation. 23 January – The Constitutional Court votes 4-4 to reject the impeachment of Korea Communications Commission chair Lee Jin-sook, who had been impeached by the National Assembly on 2 August 2024 for administrative abuses. Three people, including a Filipino-Canadian national, are arrested for processing and attempting to sell 61 kilograms of cocaine valued at 30 billion won ($24 million) from a warehouse in Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province, in what is described as the largest cocaine-related crime in South Korea. The National Bio Committee, an advisory committee directly under the President, is launched. 24 January – The government issues revisions to the Wildlife Protection and Management Act that include a ban on bear farming and feeding feral pigeons and other animals considered pests. 26 January – Yoon Suk Yeol becomes the first sitting president of South Korea to be indicted following his imposition of martial law in December, with charges of insurrection and abuse of power being filed against him. 28 January – Air Busan Flight 391: An Airbus A321-200 operated by Air Busan catches fire before takeoff at Gimhae International Airport, resulting in seven injuries and the evacuation of all 176 people on board.
February 1 February – Two fishing vessels run aground off the coast of Jeju Island, killing two people and leaving two others missing. A fire breaks out at the National Hangeul Museum in Seoul, injuring one firefighter. No damage is recorded to the museum's collection. 4 February – The Seoul High Court overturns the conviction of former Ulsan mayor Song Cheol-ho and former city police chief Hwang Un-ha for election interference over a conspiracy to engineer an investigation against a rival during the 2018 South Korean local elections. 7–14 February – South Korea at the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China: South Korea concludes its participation at the competition with 16 gold medals. 7 February – A magnitude 3.1 earthquake hits Yangseong-myeon, 22 kilometers northwest of Chungju, North Chungcheong Province. 9 February – A fishing vessel sinks off the coast of Habaek Island near Yeosu, killing four people and leaving five others missing. 10 February – One person is killed in the explosion of an oil storage tank in Ulsan. An eight-year old girl is fatally stabbed at an elementary school in Daejeon, with a teacher confessing to the killing. 12 February – A fishing vessel capsizes off the coast of Jeju Island, leaving five crew members missing. 13 February – A fishing vessel catches fire off the coast of Buan County, leaving six crew members missing. 14 February – Footballer Hwang Ui-jo is sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence for secretly filming sexual encounters with three different women. Six people are killed in a fire at an under-construction resort in Busan. A man is arrested for attempting to storm the Chinese embassy in Seoul to carry out an attack. 16 February – Actress Kim Sae-ron is found dead in her home in Seoul in what police rule to be a suicide. 17 February – The government suspends the local service of the Chinese artificial intelligence application DeepSeek, citing data collection concerns. 19 February – The first formal hearings into the impeachment of Han Duck-soo are held by the Constitutional Court of Korea. The Seoul High Court approves the retrial of Korean Central Intelligence Agency director Kim Jae-gyu, who was convicted and executed for the assassination of Park Chung Hee in 1979. Democratic Party MP Lee Sang-sik is issued with a 3-million won (US$2,084) fine by the Suwon District Court for making a false statement of his assets while campaigning for the 2024 South Korean legislative election. Four officials of the Moon Jae-in administration, namely former national security adviser and Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong; former presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min, former National Intelligence Service director Suh Hoon, and former Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul are convicted and sentenced to suspended prison terms of up to ten months by the Seoul Central District Court over the forced repatriation of two North Korean fishermen who had killed 16 of their colleagues in the Sea of Japan in 2019. 20 February – The criminal trial of Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law declaration begins in Seoul, making him the first incumbent president of South Korea to stand trial in a criminal case. 25 February – A bridge being built as part of the Seoul-Sejong City expressway collapses in Anseong, killing four workers. The Constitutional Court concludes its hearings into the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol. 26 February – A man is shot dead by police in Gwangju after stabbing an officer. Hyundai Rotem wins a 2.2 trillion-won (US$1.53 billion) contract to supply advanced trains to the Moroccan national railway operator ONCF. 27 February – The Constitutional Court rules that acting President Choi Sang-mok's decision to withhold the appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as a justice in the Constitutional Court violated the National Assembly's right to elect a justice to the court but dismisses a petition to have Ma appointed immediately. The Ministry of Unification dismisses Cho Min-ho as president of the Korea Hana Foundation supporting North Korean defectors amid allegations of him sexually and verbally harassing employees.
March 6 March – Two KF-16 fighter aircraft of the Republic of Korea Air Force drop their ordnance by accident on a civilian area of Pocheon during a drill, injuring 29 people. A taxi crashes into a wall in Ulju, Ulsan, killing four people. 7 March – The Seoul Central District Court cancels President Yoon's arrest warrant, citing procedural flaws. He is released the next day. 13 March – The Constitutional Court votes 8-0 to reject the impeachment of Board of Audit and Inspection chair Choe Jae-hae, who had been impeached by the National Assembly in December 2024 for failing to adequately review suspected irregularities regarding the 2022 relocation of the presidential office and residence. 14 March – The first case of foot-and-mouth disease in South Korea since 2023 is detected at a cattle farm in Yeongam. The United States Department of Energy includes South Korea on the lowest level of its Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List effective 15 April, prompting concerns over bilateral cooperation on technological affairs. 17 March – A military drone crashes into a parked helicopter while landing at an airbase in Yangju, causing a fire that destroys the latter aircraft. 21 March – 2025 South Korea wildfires: Wildfires break out in the central and southern regions of the country, killing at least 31 people and prompting the declaration of a state of national disaster in South Gyeongsang, North Gyeongsang and Ulsan the next day. Two Chinese nationals are arrested in Suwon for taking photographs of sensitive military and aviation infrastructure. 23 March – A Seoul Metropolitan Subway train derails after colliding with a buffer while departing from a depot at Sindorim Station. No injuries are reported. 24 March – The Constitutional Court votes 7–1 to overturn the impeachment of prime minister Han Duck-soo, allowing his reinstatement as acting president. A motorist is killed after falling into a sinkhole that emerges in Gangdong District, Seoul. 25 March – 2025 South Korea wildfires: The Gounsa temple in Uiseong, which dates back from the Silla Dynasty, is destroyed by wildfires. 26 March – The Truth and Reconciliation Commission finds the government responsible for facilitating a program in the 1970s and 1980s that saw 200,000 children being sent abroad for adoption through processes that involved abuse and fraud. The Seoul High Court overturns the conviction of Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung for perjury during the 2022 presidential election. 2025 South Korea wildfires: A firefighting helicopter crashes in Uiseong, killing the pilot. 29 March – A spectator is killed by a falling piece of aluminium during a KBO League match between NC Dinos and LG Twins at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, prompting the cancellation of KBO and KBO Futures League matches on 1 April.
April 2 April – Authorities announce the seizure of two tons of cocaine valued at 1 trillion won (US$679.6 million) from a Norwegian-flagged vessel that arrived at Gangneung from Mexico via Ecuador, Panama and China, in what is deemed the biggest drug bust in terms of weight in South Korea by the Korea Customs Service. 2 April – Hong Nam-pyo is dismissed as mayor of Changwon following the upholding of his conviction by the Supreme Court for electoral fraud during the 2022 South Korean local elections. The United States bars the entry of sea salt products from the Taepyung salt farm in Sinan County, citing concerns over the use of forced labor. 4 April – The Constitutional Court unanimously upholds the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, leading to his immediate removal as president.