Choi Bae-geun (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 최배근, born 12 April 1959) is a South Korean economist, educator and politician who served as the President of the

Platform Party The Platform Party () was a political party and an electoral alliance under the Democratic Party in South Korea formed in 2020 in order to run for party-list proportional representation in 2020 South Korean legislative election. History T ...

, along with

Woo Hee-jong Woo Hee-jong (Korean: 우희종, born 21 January 1958) is a South Korean educator and politician. He has been a professor of veterinary science at Seoul National University since 1992. He was one of the co-Presidents of the Platform Party, alon ...

Career

He studied economics at

Konkuk University Konkuk University () is a South Korean private university founded in 1946. The university was founded based on three virtues: sincerity, fidelity, and righteousness. Konkuk University gives comprehensive education in agricultural and life sci ...

and

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. He has been lecturing at Konkuk University since 1990. He has been involved in various organisations, including

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD, 참여연대) is a South Korean non-governmental organization that was established on 10 September 1994 with around 200 members . In 2004, PSPD obtained a special consultative status with ...

Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC; ) is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. ''Munhwa'' is the Sino-Korean word for "culture". Its flagship terrestrial television station MBC TV broadcasts as channel 11. E ...

and so on. In 2004, he was briefly a columnist of ''

Hankyoreh ''The Hankyoreh'' (, literally "The Korean Nation" or "One Nation") is a centre-left liberal daily newspaper in South Korea. It was established in 1988 after widespread purges forced out dissident journalists, and was envisioned as an alternat ...

''. In 2007, he became one of the co-Presidents of the Onward Korea, a political organisation that never became an official political party. He later joined the

Our Future The Mirae Party () is a youth-oriented political party centered on the rising generation of South Korea. They criticize the nation's major political parties for not properly representing the voices of young people, citing youth politics as their ...

(now Future Party) but quit later. In 2020, he founded a new political party, named the

For the Citizens The Platform Party () was a political party and an electoral alliance under the Democratic Party in South Korea formed in 2020 in order to run for party-list proportional representation in 2020 South Korean legislative election. History Th ...

(soon renamed as

), along with

. He resigned on 16 April, whereas Woo remained till the party was merged into the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

on 13 May.

Ideology

Choi is very critical towards the economic policies of the

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. In December 2018, he cited that Moon, who called himself as a "pro-labour" was forwarding a failed labour reforms. As an example, he added Moon's original manifesto to increase the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...

was not fulfilled. He also denounced that Moon's policies were more

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, autho ...

than Lee Myung-bak and

Park Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (; ; often in English ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 to 2017, until she was impeached and convicted on related corruption charges. Park was the f ...

due to the several projects i.e. privatisation. In 2019, he harshly criticised Japan under

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Lib ...

, citing that Shinzo wants to establish a pro-Japan government in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Criticisms

In 2019, Choi joined protests supporting

Cho Kuk Cho Kuk (Korean: 조국, born 6 April 1965) is a South Korean jurist and politician. He was the Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs from 2017 to 2019 in the Moon Jae-in Cabinet. On 9 September 2019, President Moon Jae-in appoin ...

as the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a Ministry (government department), ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of ju ...

, shortly after the minister had resigned following the controversies. Choi then shouted in front of people, "Dear Cho Kuk, you're our eternal Justice Minister!" Shortly before this, he condemned the prosecutor and anti-government medias for infringing the former Justice Minister, like what they had done to the ex-

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (; ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea between 2003 and 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

10 years ago. When Choi founded the Platform Party, Kim Jin-tae, a

United Future United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a Centrism, centrist List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside New Zealand Labou ...

MP denounced the party as a "pro-Cho Kuk party", citing a Choi's remarks (calling the ex-Minister as the "eternal") in October 2019.

References

External links

Choi Bae-geun
on

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Choi Bae-geun
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Bae-geun 1959 births Living people South Korean politicians 20th-century South Korean economists Konkuk University alumni University of Georgia alumni People from Seoul 21st-century South Korean economists Academic staff of Konkuk University