The Minister of Finance and Economy (Korean: 재정경제부장관) is a member of the Cabinet of South Korea and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Finance and Economy. In Korea, all minister nominees are required to undergo congressional confirmation hearings, though the consent of the National Assembly is only necessary for the prime minister, who nominates cabinet ministers.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy precedes a series of historical agencies. From 1948 to 1994, the Ministry of Finance oversaw the financial affairs of the Republic of Korea. In 1961, the Economic Planning Board was created to centralize the South Korean industry under the Park Chung Hee regime. In 1994, the two agencies were merged to create the Ministry of Finance and Economy (재정경제원, 1994–1998).
Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Ministry of Finance and Economy was reformed into two new agencies, the cabinet-level Ministry of Finance and Economy (재정경제부, 1998–2008) and the National Budget Administration (예산청). In 2008, the Ministry of Finance and Economy and Ministry of Budget and Planning merged together to form the Ministry of Economy and Finance. In 2026, the Lee Jae Myung administration once again divided the Ministry of Economy and Finance into the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Planning and Budget.