Heo Jeong

His Excellency Heo Jeong
허정 許政
Jeong in the early 1950s, during his tenure as the mayor of Seoul.
6th Prime Minister of South Korea
In office June 15, 1960 – August 18, 1960
Preceded by	Heo Jeong (Ministries involved)
Succeeded by	Chang Myon
Personal details
Born	(1896-04-08)April 8, 1896 Pusan, Gyeongsang-do, Joseon Dynasty (now Busan Metropolitan City, South Korea)
Died	September 18, 1988(1988-09-18) (aged 92) Seoul, South Korea
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Baek Gui-Ran
Korean name
Hangul	허정
Hanja	許政
Revised Romanization	Heo Jeong
McCune–Reischauer	Hŏ Chŏng
Pen name
Hangul	우양
Hanja	友洋
Revised Romanization	Uyang
McCune–Reischauer	Uyang

Heo Jeong (Korean: 허정; Hanja: 許政; April 8, 1896 – September 18, 1988) was a South Korean politician and Korean independence activist, who served as the sixth Prime Minister of South Korea during the country's Second Republic.^[1]

In 1960, he was an acting prime minister during the First South Korean Republic. In addition, he headed a caretaker government for a brief time following the 1960 April Revolution which overthrew the First Republic. Heo was also known by the nickname, "Uyang" (우양; 友洋; literally "friend of the seas"), and an alternative name, Heo Sung-su (허성수; 許聖洙).

Career[]

Heo Jeong was born in Busan, South Gyeongsang province. His father, Heo Mun-il, was a wealthy merchant. In 1922, Heo went into political asylum, where he lent a hand to Syngman Rhee. From 1922 to 1936, Heo participated in Korean resistance movements. On September 2, 1945, he joined the Korea Democratic Party. In 1950, he was appointed to Acting Prime Minister and later in 1951, additionally was Minister of Health until 1952.^{[clarification needed]} From 1957 to 1959 he was appointed as Mayor of Seoul and was later dispatched to Japan as the South Korean special envoy to Japan. On April 16, he became Foreign Minister. On April 25, he was appointed Acting Prime Minister, and the following day President Syngman Rhee resigned. Heo Jeong was additionally Acting President until August 18 of that year. On July 16, 1960, he was appointed as the 6th Prime Minister of South Korea, by the National Assembly. He remained Acting President of South Korea until succeeded by Yun Bo-seon on his election.

In 1919, he met Syngman Rhee in a Methodist church of Seoul. Since then and until 1960, Heo Jeong was Syngman Rhee's enthusiastic follower.

Bibliography[]

• For After Day's Testimony (《내일을 위한 증언》; SaemTer, 1979)

See also[]

• April 19 Movement
• Politics of South Korea
• History of South Korea
• Syngman Rhee

References[]

Site link[]

• Heo Jeong (in Korean)