Choe Kang-wook (; born 24 March 1968) is a South Korean lawyer and politician who was the former President of the Open Democratic Party (ODP) from 2020 to 2022. He served as the Secretary to the President for Public Office Discipline from September 2018 to March 2020. In the 2020 election, he was elected as a
Member of the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the represen ...
. In September 2023, the
Supreme Court of Korea
The Supreme Court of Korea () is the highest ordinary court in the judicial branch of South Korea, seated in Seocho, Seoul. Established under Chapter 5 of the Constitution of South Korea, the court has ultimate and comprehensive jurisdictio ...
removed him from office as a member of the National Assembly after it upheld his sentence of a suspended eight month prison term for his involvement in forging a fake internship certificate for the son of the Justice Minister
Cho Kuk
Cho Kuk (; born 6 April 1965) is a South Korean politician who served as a member of the National Assembly of South Korea from May to December 2024, when he lost his seat following the Supreme Court of Korea's decision to uphold his two-year p ...
.
Early life and education
Choe was born in
Namwon
Namwon (, ) is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. Namwon is about 50 minutes from the provincial capital of Jeonju, which is almost three hours away from Seoul. The official city flower is Royal Azalea () while the city tree is the ...
,
North Jeolla
North Jeolla Province, officially Jeonbuk State (), is a Special Self-governing Province of South Korea in the Honam region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Jeonbuk borders the provinces of South Chungcheong to the north, North Gyeo ...
in 1968 but was grown in
Boseong
Boseong County (''Boseong-gun'') is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Boseong is famous for its green tea leaves, with 26.71 hectares of land dedicated to its production. It is also the birthplace of the Korean independence acti ...
and
Yeosu
Yeosu, formerly romanized as Yosu, is a coastal city located on the southern shore of South Korea. With a population of 268,823, Yeosu is the second largest city in South Jeolla Province. In 1998, the Old Yeosu City, Yeocheon City and Yeocheon C ...
in
South Jeolla
South Jeolla Province (), formerly South Chŏlla Province, also known as Jeonnam (), is a province in the Honam region, South Korea, and the southernmost province in mainland Korea. South Jeolla borders the provinces of North Jeolla to the nor ...
Jeonju
Jeonju (, , ) is the capital and List of cities in South Korea, largest city of North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many resi ...
and studied law at
Seoul National University
Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities.
The university's main c ...
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
** Chocolate bar
* Protein bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...
for military judicial officer in 1994. Prior to be transferred to
major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
in 2005, he was the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) of the 3rd Cops, Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutors Office Ministry of National Defence and the Deputy Chief of the High Public Prosecutor's Office.
He took a prominent role in 2004 when he led an investigation against corruption scandals within the military. In January, he arrested and charged the then Deputy Commander of R.O.K.-U.S. Combined Forces Command Shin Il-soon for being alleged to embezzle the troop budget and public funds. The investigation was also brought to a bribery occurred at a promotion to
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
, in which led the then
Chief of Army Staff
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boat ...
Nam Jae-jun to resign in November. His resignation was, however, rejected by the then
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:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
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 from 2003 to 2008.
Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...
.
Lawyer
After being discharged in 2005, Choe worked as a lawyer, mainly focusing human rights issues within the military. He co-founded the Cheongmaek law firm. He was an ombudsman at the Defence Acquisition Programme Administration, an expert member in human rights education at the
National Human Rights Commission
A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights.
The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...
and a member of the Special Committee on Ethics of the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
. In 2008, he filed a constitutional appeal for an issue of "seditious books" by the
Ministry of National Defence
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...
Lee Jung-hee
Lee Jung-hee (; born December 22, 1969) is a South Korean politician, lawyer and activist. She was a member of the 18th National Assembly of South Korea. She was one of the candidates for the 2012 presidential election.
Biography
Early ...
. He was also in charge for a trial related to civilian inspection of
Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak (; born 19 December 1941), often referred to by his initials MB, is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the tenth president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engi ...
's government.
Foundation for Broadcast Culture
Choe became a member of board of directors (BoD) of the Foundation for Broadcast Culture from August 2012 to 2018. In 2012, he and other 2 BoD members — Seon Dong-kyu and Kwon Mi-hyuk, criticised that the dismissal proposal against the CEO of MBC, Kim Jae-chul, was failed due to governmental pressure.
Secretary to the President for Public Office Discipline
On 5 September 2018, Choe was appointed the Secretary to the President for Public Office Discipline, replacing Kim Jong-ho who was moved to the Secretary-General of the
Board of Audit and Inspection
The Board of Audit and Inspection (, BAI) is a national organization headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Its primary function is the audit and inspection of the accounts of state and administrative bodies.
Council of Commissioners of BAI
The ...
.
Member of the National Assembly
He resigned on 16 March 2020. However, sources reported that he would run for the upcoming general election as a
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
as the date was the deadline for any civil servants to resign in order to run for the election. At the beginning he denied it, but 2 days later he was reported he had already registered as a pre-candidate of the Open Democratic Party (ODP). He was selected 2nd in the ODP list and was elected.
On 19 April, Choe was appointed the interim President of the ODP following the resignation of the incumbent Lee Keun-shik due to the poor performance in the election. Being the sole candidate running for the party's presidency, he was elected the ODP President on 12 May with the support of 99.6%.
On 26 December 2021, both the Democratic Party and the ODP agreed to merge each other, under the name of the "Democratic Party of Korea". The ODP was later merged into the Democratic Party on 18 January 2022. As a part of the agreement, Choe became one of the vice presidents of the Democratic Party.
Cho Won Fake Internship Certificate Scandal
In 2017, Choe helped to write a fake internship certificate for the former
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
Cho Kuk
Cho Kuk (; born 6 April 1965) is a South Korean politician who served as a member of the National Assembly of South Korea from May to December 2024, when he lost his seat following the Supreme Court of Korea's decision to uphold his two-year p ...
's son, Cho Won. The internship certificate stated that from January 2017 until October 2017, Cho Won had worked a total of sixteen hours, coming to work 2 days a week. The internship certificate helped Cho Won apply and be admitted into the Yonsei University Graduate School, and receive a master's degree in political science. Choe denied it, insisting that the ex-Justice Minister's son had really completed his internship course and therefore the certificate was genuine. He also added that the prosecution threatened him to attend, otherwise they would reveal his real name in public. However, ''
Kyunghyang Shinmun
The ''Kyunghyang Shinmun'' () is a major daily newspaper published in South Korea. It is based in Seoul. The name literally means '' Urbi et Orbi Daily News''.Chung Kyung-shim during a case of property succession. Before that, according to ''
JoongAng Ilbo
''The JoongAng'', formerly known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'' (), is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also pu ...
'', he was in charge of personnel verification of Cho Kuk during the time of his appointment.
On 7 January 2020, the
Liberty Korea Party
The Liberty Korea Party () was a conservative political party in South Korea that was described variously as right-wing, right-wing populist, or far-right. Until February 2017, it was known as the Saenuri Party (), and before that as the Hann ...
filed a lawsuit against Choe for obstruction and breaching the Anti-graft Law. 16 days later, he was charged by the prosecution. On 22 April, he was again sued by a civic organisation for bribery.
On 28 January 2021, Choe was sentenced to a suspended 8 month prison sentence with a stay of execution for 2 years for the crime of obstruction of business by the Seoul Central District Court. The judge, Jeong Jong-geon, stated according to the claims of the fake internship certificate, Cho Won would have worked an average of twelve minutes for every time he visited the office. He also stated that the employees at the law firm had never seen Cho Won working regularly as an intern. On 18 September 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the Seoul Central District Court's verdict.
On 18 September 2023, he was removed from office as a member of the National Assembly in accordance with the Public Official Election Act and the National Assembly Act, due to receiving a prison sentence for his involvement in Cho Won's fake internship certificate.
Suspension from Democratic Party
During a book publishing event on November 19, 2023, Choe made a sexist comment, referring to the South Korean First Lady
Kim Keon-hee
Kim Keon-hee (; born Kim Myeong-sin; 2 September 1972) is a South Korean businesswoman who served as the first lady of South Korea from 2022 to 2025 as the wife of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Since 2009, she has been the chief executive officer a ...
as an ''amkeot'' (). He was criticized by both members of the ruling
People Power Party
The People Power Party (PPP; ) is a Conservatism in South Korea, conservative and Right-wing politics, right-wing List of political parties in South Korea, political party in South Korea. It is the second-largest party in the National Ass ...
and his own party, the Democratic Party. The
Korean National Council of Women
The Korean National Council of Women (KNCW; ) is a women's organization in South Korea, founded in 1959. Along with the younger Korean Women's Associations United (KWAU), KNCW helps coordinate non-governmental organization activities dealing with w ...
called on Choe to apologize for his derogatory remarks. On November 22, the Democratic Party suspended Choe Kang-wook's party membership for six months in response.
Controversies
Channel A broadcaster transcript
On 3 April 2020, Choe revealed a recorded transcript of Lee Dong-jae, a broadcaster of Channel A, on his
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
.
On 10 April, the full recorded transcript was revealed. Nevertheless, 3 days later, Lee Bo-kyung, a worker of MBC, posted on her Facebook that the transcript disclosed by Choe was not true.
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...