1.KIM JONG-UN
North Korea’s Supreme Leader and Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim has been in the headlines for the North’s nuclear proliferation and threats to the Asian subcontinent and the United States. He reportedly did his schooling in Switzerland and went on to become the supreme leader of the nation in 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il. He ordered the execution of his uncle Jang Song-thaek on allegations of treachery in 2013 and is suspected of ordering the assassination of his half-brother Kim Jong-nam in 2017. Under Kim’s rule, North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear arsenal and test-fired missiles on a regular basis, escalating tensions with the U.S.
2.XI JINPING
President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping has been catapulted to political elevation unprecedented in Chinese history, with the Communist Party of China inserting “XI Jinping Thought” alongside China’s founding father Mao Zedong. In 2008, he was elected vice-president and became vice chairman of the Central Military Commission in 2010. Since assuming the presidential office in 2013, Xi has advocated anti-corruption measures, internet censorship, economic and social reforms, and military buildup. In 2017, he was labeled “The world’s most powerful man” by The Economist.
3.SHINZŌ ABE
The incumbent and third-longest serving prime minister of Japan after World War II, Abe began his third term in office in 2014. He was first elected to the top post in 2006, when he was 52, making him the youngest post-war Japanese prime minister. Abe won his first House of Representatives seat in 1993 while running for the Liberal Democratic Party, and was a member of the House of Representatives through 2006. As prime minister, he has been influential in the country’s monetary easing policies, and has a hardline stance against North Korea’s dictatorial regime, also propagating the need for improved ties with China.
4.HUN SEN
The prime minister of Cambodia is one of the longest serving leaders in the world, having held his current office since 1985. He came to power when he was 32 years old, which made him the world's youngest head of government at the time. The former commander of Khmer Rouge regime was made Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in 1979 after the founding of People's Republic of Kampuchea and took the highest office in 1985 after the death of then Prime Minister Chan Sy. The authoritarian leader has been criticized for building centralized power in the country through the use of force and controlling the media and public activities.
5.BAN KI-MOON
The South Korean diplomat served as the secretary general of the United Nations twice, from 2007 to 2016. Ranked 32nd in the Forbes List of the World’s Most Powerful People in 2013, his views on global warming, support to LGBT rights and efforts to improve peace in the Middle East have been the highlights of his term at the U.N. Ban had earlier held various diplomatic positions, including serving as the Foreign minister of South Korea from 2004 to 2006.
6.HALIMAH YACOB
Halimah Yacob is the first woman president in the Singapore’s history, after she was declared president-elect in a walkover in September 2017. Her political career began in 2001, when she was elected Member of Parliament. She held various trade union and ministerial positions over the years, before being nominated as the ninth Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore in 2013.
7.OKO WIDODO
The incumbent president of Indonesia has held the office since 2014 and is the first head of state without a major military or political background. Before becoming president, he held the posts of Surakarta mayor (2005-12) and Jakarta governor (2012-14). Jokowi, as he is popularly called, has been instrumental in several reforms in the country, including imposing harsh punishment for drug smuggling, and his government has focused on infrastructure development and building maritime power.
8.NAJIB RAZAK
The Malaysian prime minister, in his early political career, was elected to the Member of Parliament seat at the age of 23 when his father and former Prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein died in 1976. In 1978, he became the youngest deputy minister in the country and went on to hold various ministerial posts, including Deputy Prime Minister from 2004-2009, until he assumed the top office the same year. The highlights of his prime ministerial tenure have been economic liberalization measures, including reduction in government subsidies and boosting foreign investment, but he has also been marred in a corruption scandal involving the state-owned investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
9.RODRIGO DUTERTE
The 71-year-old lawyer-turned-politician is the oldest Philippines president, assuming the top post in 2016. Earlier, he served seven terms and 22 years as mayor of Davao City – beginning in 1988 – and went on to become one of the longest-serving mayors of the country. As Philippines president, Duterte has been a staunch supporter of extrajudicial killings of drug addicts and criminals, and has voiced his intention for an "independent foreign policy," distancing the country from U.S. and Europe in the wake of U.N. criticism over human rights and building ties with China and Russia.
10.LEE HSIEN LOONG
The current prime minister of Singapore, Lee took office in 2004 and went on to lead the People's Action Party into winning the 2006, 2011 and 2015 general elections. In the beginning of his career, he joined the Singapore Armed Forces in 1971, and in 1983, became the youngest brigadier-general in Singaporean history. He became Member of Parliament in 1984, and held various ministerial and administrative posts, before being appointed as the deputy prime minister in 1990. In his current office, Lee has been appreciated for announcing the five-day work policy and two-month maternity leave.
11.LI KEQIANG
Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Li is one of the main figures behind China’s economic agenda and was ranked the 12th Most Powerful Person by Forbes in 2015 and 2016. After serving various political positions, including as Henan governor (1998-2004) and vice-premier (2008-13), he assumed his current office in 2013. As premier, Li has emphasized a move from exports to internal consumption, increased urbanization and focusing the major share of the country’s wealth on the middle class.
12.PARK GEUN-HYE
The first woman president of South Korea and the first female president in East Asia to be popularly elected, Park served from 2013 to 2017. The daughter of former President Park Chung-hee, she was ranked 11th on the Forbes list of World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2013 and 2014, and the 46th most powerful person in the world in 2014 by Forbes. Before she was elected head of state, she served as the chairwoman of the Grand National Party, later known as Saenuri Party, which won the 2012 General Election. In December 2016, Park faced impeachment on charges of influence peddling, and was removed from office in March 2017. She was then detained on charges of bribery and corruption.
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