Han Jeoung-ae (; born 8 January 1965) is a South Korean politician and a three-term parliamentarian representing

Gangseo District Gangseo-gu (), or "''west of river'' district," is the name of a ''gu'' in 2 South Korean cities: *Gangseo District, Busan *Gangseo District, Seoul Gangseo District (; ) is one of the 25 districts (''gu'') of Seoul, South Korea. It is locate ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

at 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 ...

from 2016. Han also served as Minister of Environment under President

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (, ; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the Chief ...

from 2021 to 2022.

Trade unionist

After graduating from

Pusan National University Pusan National University (PNU; , also called Busan National University) is one of ten Flagship Korean National Universities in South Korea. It is the first national university established after the National Liberation Day of Korea. There ar ...

, she worked at

Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency () is a body in South Korea, which serves to protect the health and safety of Korean workers. The advent of KOSHA It was late 1980s that KOSHA (Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency) Law was released ...

. After completing her doctorate studies in the UK, she returned to the Agency. In 2005 she became the head of its trade union. And in 2006 she became the deputy chair of

Federation of Korean Trade Unions The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) is a national trade union center in South Korea formed in 1960. It represents the company union tendency of the South Korean labour movement, as opposed to the more militant Korean Confederation of Tr ...

's public servants bureau. She continued to take leadership roles in the trade unions before entering politics for the 2012 general election. From 2006 to 2011, she has taken multiple roles in formulating labor-related policy, such as a member of sub-committees of then-Economic and Social Development Commission (now-Economic, Social and Labor Council) and the highest governing bodies of

National Pension Service The National Pension Service (NPS; ) is a public pension fund in South Korea. It is the third largest in the world with over $800 billion in assets, and is the largest investor in South Korea. The system functions as part of a national social se ...

and National Health Insurance Service, as a trade union representative.

Parliamentarian

In the 2012 general election, she was placed as the number 11 of the party's proportional representation list. In the 2016 general election, she defeated the former

mayor from the opposition party. She has taken multiple roles in her party and its preceding parties including one of members its Supreme Council, its deputy floor leader and its spokesperson as well as deputy chair and senior deputy chair of its Policy Planning Committee. In 2018 she received

Lush Lush may refer to: People Music * Lush (band), a British rock band * ''Lush'' (Mitski album), a 2012 album by Mitski * ''Lush'' (Snail Mail album), a 2018 album by Snail Mail * "Lush", a single by Skepta featuring Jay Sean * '' Lush 3'', a s ...

Prize in lobbying category for her legislative work in supporting alternative safety testing to animal testing. In 2020 she was elected as the chair of

's Health and Welfare Committee responsible for scrutinising Ministry of Health and Welfare,

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS; ), formerly known as the Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA; ), is a government agency responsible for promoting public health by ensuring the safety and effectiveness of foods, pharmaceuticals, medi ...

and related agencies. In August 2020 newly elected leader of her party,

Lee Nak-yeon Lee Nak-yon (; born 20 December 1951) is a South Korean politician who served as the prime minister of South Korea from 2017 to 2020. A member of the New Future Democratic Party, Lee previously served as the governor of South Jeolla Province f ...

, appointed her as the chair of party's Policy Planning Committee and she subsequently resigned from the elected chair of the Health and Welfare Committee. In September Lee appointed her and Yang Hyang-ja as the co-deputy chair of party's K-New Deal Committee led by party floor leader

Kim Tae-nyeon Kim Tae-nyeon (, born 20 March 1965) is a South Korean politician and former activist who previously served as the parliamentary leader of the Democratic Party (South Korea, 2015), Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). He was the acting President o ...

Minister

President

nominated Han as his next Minister of Environment on 30 December 2020. Democratic party leader

Lee Nak-yon Lee Nak-yon (; born 20 December 1951) is a South Korean politician who served as the prime minister of South Korea from 2017 to 2020. A member of the New Future Democratic Party, Lee previously served as the governor of South Jeolla Province f ...

replaced Han with Hong Ik-pyo to chair the party's policy planning committee

Education

Han holds two degrees - a bachelor in environmental engineering from

and a doctorate in industrial engineering from

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

. She also completed postgraduate programme in environmental engineering at

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Jeoung-ae Living people 1965 births Pusan National University alumni Alumni of the University of Nottingham Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Democratic Party of Korea politicians 21st-century South Korean women politicians 21st-century South Korean politicians South Korean trade union leaders Environmental engineers Women government ministers of South Korea Environment ministers of South Korea Women members of the National Assembly (South Korea)