Kweon Seong-dong (

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 ** ...

: 권성동, born 29 April 1960) is a

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 ...

n lawyer and politician. A member of the

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

People Power Party (PPP), he has been the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for

Gangneung Gangneung () is a municipal city in the province of Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved January 14, 2006. Gangneung is the economic ...

since 2009. Before entering politics, Kweon worked as a prosecutor and lawyer at various prosecution offices and the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

. He made his political debut at the 2009 Gangneung by-election which he won with about 51% of popular votes. He made himself known through his role at the 2016 political scandal, which let the

impeachment of Park Geun-hye The impeachment of Park Geun-hye, President of South Korea, was the culmination of a political scandal involving interventions to the presidency from her aide, Choi Soon-sil. The impeachment vote took place on 9 December 2016, with 234 mem ...

Early life and education

Kweon was born in

Gangwon Gangwon or Kangwŏn may refer to: * Gangwon Province (historical), the Goryeo, Joseon Dynasty and the Japanese Korean province * Gangwon Province (South Korea), a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. Before the division of Kore ...

in 1960. He is the eldest of the three sons and a daughter of a housewife and Kweon Seung-ohk (died in 2022), was an educator and the former Director of Gangneung Myeongryun Institution. He attended

Gangneung Myeongryun High School Gangneung () is a municipal city in the province of Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved January 14, 2006. Gangneung is the economic ...

before joining

Chung-Ang University Chung-Ang University (CAU; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is widely regarded as one of the best universities in South Korea. The university operates two campuses: main campus located in Dongjak District, Seoul, and ...

, where he studied law.

Career

Although Kweon had ever joined anti-dictatorship movements in 1980, he rather prepared for a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

as he did not agree with "radical changes". He was qualified for the bar in 1985. Shortly after completing

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

, he began his prosecutor career at Suwon District Prosecutor's Office in March 1991, where he worked till transferred to

branch of Chuncheon District Public Prosecutors Office in September 1993. He then moved to Seoul, where he worked at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the

Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Offices Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, between 1994 and 2000, and again between 2003 and 2005. His prosecutor career came to the end at

Gwangju High Prosecutor's Office Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

in 2006. He then briefly worked as a lawyer at Sojong Partners. While he was working at the Ministry of Justice in 1999, Kweon made a draft of the National Human Rights Commission Act that was later submitted to 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 rep ...

. The bill was, however, scrapped by the then ruling party,

Millennium Democratic Party The Democratic Party (; DP) was a political party in South Korea. Formerly named Millennium Democratic Party (; MDP), it was renamed in May 6, 2005. After its dissolution, its members joined the Uri Party or the successor Democratic Party. Hi ...

(MDP), who instead established 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 Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smi ...

based on the demand of

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

-leaning

non-governmental organisations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

(NGO). This made him to join politics.

Politics

In the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...

, Kweon made an unsuccessful attempt to contest for Gangneung under the

Grand National 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 Hanna ...

(GNP) banner. On 8 April 2022, Kweon was elected parliamentary leader of the People Power Party, defeating

Cho Hae-jin Cho Hae-jin (born 1976) is a South Korean writer. Life Cho Hae-jin was born in 1976 in Seoul, and graduated from the Ewha Womans University in education, and then graduated from the same university's graduate school in Korean literature. She be ...

Political views

Controversies

Personal life

Election results

General elections

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Year !! Constituency !! Political party !! Votes (%) !! Remarks , - , 2009 , ,

, ,

GNP The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product ( GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...

, , 34,834 (50.90%) , , Won , - , 2012 , ,

, ,

Saenuri 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 Hanna ...

, , 57,444 (60.78%) , , Won , - , 2016 , ,

, ,

, , 54,359 (57.15%) , , Won , - , 2020 , ,

, ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, , 49,618 (40.84%) , , Won

References

External links

Official website

Kweon Seong-dong
on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

1960 births Living people People from Gangneung South Korean politicians South Korean prosecutors 20th-century South Korean lawyers 21st-century South Korean lawyers