Na Kyung-won (, born 6 December 1963) is a South Korean

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. She is a member of the conservative People Power Party. She has been 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 repr ...

since 2004. From December 2018 to December 2019 she was the

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

of 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 ...

, the first woman to hold the position.

Early life and education

Na was born on December 6, 1963, 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 ...

, South Korea. She graduated from

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 ...

with a bachelor's and a master's degree in law, and completed a doctoral program in international law at the same university.

Career

In 1995, Na became a judge for

administrative courts An administrative court is a type of specialized court on administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are usually co ...

of South Korea. She started her political career as a special aide for women's affairs to Lee Hoi-chang for the 2002 presidential election. She was one of two candidates of the October 2011 Seoul mayoral by-election after

Oh Se-hoon Oh Se-hoon (; born 4 January 1961) is a South Korean politician and lawyer who has served as the mayor of Seoul since 2021, an office he previously held from 2006 to 2011. A member of the People Power Party, he served as a member of the Nat ...

resigned his position as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, but lost the election to

Park Won-soon Park Won-soon (; February 11, 1955 or March 26, 1956July 9, 2020) was a South Korean politician, activist, and lawyer. He was the longest-serving mayor of Seoul, from 2011 until his death in July 2020. A member of the Democratic Party of Kore ...

. Na did not run in the 2012 legislative election due to allegations that her husband Kim Jae-ho was involved in a clandestine deal with a prosecutor from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. She subsequently ran as a candidate for Dongjak B in a July 2014 by-election, and beat the Justice Party's

Roh Hoe-chan Roh Hoe-chan (, 31 August 1956 – 23 July 2018) was a South Korean politician. He was a member of the 17th, 19th, and 20th National Assembly of South Korea, National Assemblies. Roh was involved with multiple progressive-leaning parties, latel ...

by 929 votes. Outside of politics, Na began working in sports in 2005. She became the president of Special Olympics Korea in 2005 and the Korean Wheelchair Rugby Association in 2006. In 2009, Na was selected to the

Korean Paralympic Committee Korean Paralympic Committee (KPC; ) is a National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of South Korea. The committee was established on May 12, 2006, and is recognized by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and Asian Paralympic Committee (APC). Se ...

and elected vice president of the KPC in 2013. Also in 2013, Na was named onto the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

and reelected in 2017. In December 2018, Na was elected parliamentary floor leader of the main opposition party., the first woman in the country to hold this position. In February 2019, she warned that if the US could not get North Korea to denuclearize, Seoul would probably order more nuclear weaponry to level up to its northern counterpart. She lost her Dongjak B seat to

Lee Soo-jin Lee Su-jin () is a Korean name composed of the surname Lee (Korean surname), Lee (alternately romanized as Yi, Rhee, I, or Ri) and the unisex given name Soo-jin, Su-jin (alternatively romanized as Soo-jin, Sue-jin, or Su-chin). People with this name ...

in the 2020 legislative election. On 13 January 2021, she announced to run for

Mayor of Seoul The mayor of Seoul () is the chief executive of Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul being the capital and largest city of South Korea. The position is historically one of the most powerful in the country, charged with managing an annual budg ...

in the 2021 South Korean by-elections but lost to

in the primaries. In 2025, Na declared her candidacy for the

2025 South Korean presidential election Presidential elections in South Korea, Early presidential elections were held in South Korea on 3 June 2025. Democratic Party (South Korea, 2015), Democratic Party nominee and former opposition leader Lee Jae-myung defeated the ruling People P ...

, but lost in the

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

held by the People Power Party.

Controversies

On September 26, 2011, Na Kyung-won visited a facility related to the severely disabled and was criticized socially for taking off the clothes of a severely disabled teenager and bathing naked in front of reporters. Human rights groups for the disabled also criticized Na Kyung-won. On 15 April 2019, during a protest, progressive college students occupied the office of Na Kyung-won. In September 2019, it was reported by local media that Na's son had allegedly received preferential treatment while in high school after he was listed as the first author in a paper's research summary. The paper was subsequently presented at a medical engineering conference at

. Na stated that she finds the allegations "regrettable" and that her son "conducted the experiments himself and wrote about it."

Personal life

Na Kyung-won is married to judge Kim Jae-ho and they have two children. Their daughter has Down syndrome.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Na, Kyung-won 1963 births Living people Politicians from Seoul Women members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Liberty Korea Party politicians People Power Party (South Korea) politicians 21st-century South Korean women politicians 21st-century South Korean politicians 20th-century South Korean judges 21st-century South Korean judges Seoul National University School of Law alumni South Korean Roman Catholics South Korean women judges Disability in South Korea International Paralympic Committee members Naju Na clan 20th-century women judges 21st-century women judges 21st-century South Korean lawyers South Korean women lawyers