Cho Jung-hun (, born 7 October 1972) is a South Korean economist and politician. He is one of the co-founders of the minor liberal Transition Korea party, along with Lee Won-jae. On 9 November 2023, he merged his minor party with the conservative People Power Party.

Early life and education

Born in Seoul, Cho studied

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

. After qualifying for

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

, he earned a master's degree in international development at

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

. He passed the Young Professionals Programme of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

Career

From 2005 to 2008, Cho worked under the Technical Advisory Team of the World Bank where he worked as a part of negotiations for

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

independence and fiscal decentralization from

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. Then from 2012 to 2014, he worked at the World Bank

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

branch and helped a negotiation between Palestine and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Prior to entering politics, he worked at the World Bank

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

branch from 2014. In Uzbekistan, he was not only managing the development work of the bank, but was also consulting the economic development of the country. After returning to his home country South Korea, he served as the Vice Chairman for Future Consensus Institute and the director of Ajou Institute of Unification.

Politics

Prior to the 2016 election, Cho was brought into the Democratic Party. He applied for the Democratic list but was not officially registered. In 2020, Cho co-founded Transition Korea along with Lee Won-jae. He was elected to be the party president but resigned in order to run under the

Platform Party The Platform Party (), also known as Citizen's Party of Korea, was an electoral alliance and political party in South Korea formed in order to run for party-list proportional representation in 2020 South Korean legislative election. History ...

(sister

satellite party Satellite Party was an alternative rock band formed by Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell following the break-up of Jane's Addiction in 2004. Other members included Carl Restivo (bass) and Farrell's wife, Etty Lau Farrell (backing singer a ...

to the Democratic Party) banner. He ran 6th in the Platform Party list and was elected. On 12 May 2020, Cho officially left the Platform Party and returned to his original party. On March 19, 2023, Cho received international attention for suggesting that Korea solve its population crisis by importing domestic workers from Southeast Asian nations and paying them half the legal minimum wage. Many domestic international commentators ridiculed Cho because his remarks landed on the

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March since declared by the United Nations in 1966. In South Africa, the country in which the event took place that gave rise to the observance, the ...

and the annual protest day for the rights of migrant workers carried out by the South Korean Migrant Trade Union. Parliamentarian

Yong Hye-in Yong Hye-in (, born 12 April 1990) is a South Korean civil society activist and leader of the Basic Income Party. She was one of the main proponents of the silent march campaign, ''Stay Where You Are (South Korea), Stay Where You Are'', that or ...

of the

Basic Income Party The Basic Income Party (BIP; ) is a Single-issue politics, single-issue list of political parties in South Korea, political party in South Korea advocating for a universal basic income (UBI). For the 2024 South Korean legislative election, 202 ...

criticized Cho's policy proposal as "racist". In September 2023, Cho announced that he would join the People Power Party by merging his Transition Korea Party with the PPP. Two parties were formally merged on 9 November 2023.

Political positions

He is politically syncretic, rejecting to be neither

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

nor liberal but being as

pragmatic Pragmatism is a philosophical movement. Pragmatism or pragmatic may also refer to: * "Pragmaticism", Charles Sanders Peirce's post-1905 branch of philosophy * Pragmatics, a subfield of linguistics and semiotics * ''Pragmatics'' (journal), an aca ...

. He supports transition to negative regulation, as well as 300,000 won (~£200) of

basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform Work (hu ...

. He is also critical towards Anti- TADA, saying that "renovation is from the market but it should not be prevented at the beginning". He also added that should TADA gives negative influences to taxi drivers, the benefits earned must be shared with taxi drivers rather than simply prohibiting the platform. He gained much support for his first interpellation session where he maintained a polite attitude asking unconventional questions. He pointed out the exacerbating economic disparity in Korean society and invited fellow politicians to take measures to alleviate polarization.

Election results

General elections

Notes

References

External links

Cho Jung-hun
on

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Cho Jung-hun
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cho, Jung-hun 1972 births Living people 21st-century South Korean economists Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Yonsei University alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Politicians from Seoul