Kwon Young-se (; born 1 April 1959) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the member for

Yongsan Yongsan District (, ) is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. It has a population of 231,685 (2020) and has a geographic area of , and is divided into 19 '' dong'' (administrative neighborhoods). Yongsan is located near Downtown Seoul, ...

in 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 ...

. A member of the

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 ...

, he is often described as a

moderate conservative Moderate conservatism is a politically moderate version of conservatism that is less demanding than classical conservatism, and can be divided into several subtypes, such as liberal conservatism. The term is principally used in countries where ...

within his party. He previously served in the National Assembly as the member for

Yeongdeungpo Yeongdeungpo District () is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. Although the origin of the name is uncertain, the first two syllables are thought to be from "''yeongdeung''" (靈登) or "divine ascent", a shamanic rite. The third sy ...

B from 2002 to 2012.

Early life

Kwon Yeong-se was born on February 24, 1959, into a working-class family in

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 ...

. He graduated from the

Seoul National University School of Law Seoul National University School of Law (; SNU Law) is the law school of Seoul National University, a national research university in Gwanak, Seoul, South Korea. Following legacy of the only and the first modern national law school establishe ...

and passed his

bar examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

in 1983. He later received his

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * M ...

from the

Harvard Kennedy School 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 ...

Career

Prior to becoming a politician, Kwon worked as a public prosecutor. He entered politics when he was nominated as 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 Han ...

's candidate for Yeongdeungpo B in the 2002 South Korean by-elections after former member Kim Min-seok's resignation in order to run in the Seoul Mayoral election. Kwon was elected with 54.9% of the vote in the election. He was re-elected in his constituency in the

2004 election The following elections occurred in the year 2004. Africa * 2004 Algerian presidential election * 2004 Botswana general election * 2004 Cameroonian presidential election * 2004 Comorian legislative election * 2004 Equatorial Guinean legislativ ...

and the 2008 election, but failed to be re-elected in the 2012 election. While not a member of the National Assembly, he actively supported

Park Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (; ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until Impeachment of Park Geun-hye, she was removed from office in 2017. Park was the first and to date only woman ...

's campaign in the

2012 South Korean presidential election Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 19 December 2012. They were the sixth presidential elections since democratization and the establishment of the Sixth Republic of South Korea, Sixth Republic, and were held under a First Past t ...

. He was then appointed by President Park Geun-hye to serve as South Korea's Ambassador to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in early 2013. He returned to South Korea in March 2015 and was succeeded by

Kim Jang-soo General (Ret.) Kim Jang-soo (; born February 28, 1948), ROKA, was the 37th Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Army and the 40th Republic of Korea Minister of National Defense. He was a Grand National Party Representative in the Nationa ...

. Upon his return to South Korea, he once again ran as the

Saenuri 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 ...

's candidate for the Yeongdeungpo B constituency in the

2016 South Korean legislative election Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 13 April 2016. All 300 members of the National Assembly (South Korea), National Assembly were elected, 253 from first-past-the-post South Korean Legislature Constituencies, constituencies and 47 ...

, however he was defeated by incumbent Shin Kyoung-min. In the

2020 South Korean legislative election Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 15 April 2020. All 300 members of the National Assembly were elected, 253 from first-past-the-post constituencies and 47 from proportional party lists. They were the first elections held under ...

, Kwon narrowly defeated Democratic candidate Kang Tae-woong in the

constituency race, returning to the National Assembly as a member after eight years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwon, Yeong-se 1959 births Living people Politicians from Seoul Seoul National University School of Law alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni South Korean prosecutors 21st-century South Korean lawyers Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) People Power Party (South Korea) politicians Ambassadors of South Korea to China Government ministers of South Korea Republic of Korea Air Force personnel