Park Yong-jin (; born 17 April 1971) is a South Korean labor activist and politician in the liberal
Minjoo Party of Korea
The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK or DP; , ) is a Liberalism, liberal list of political parties in South Korea, political party in South Korea. The DPK and its rival, the People Power Party (South Korea), People Power Party (PPP), form the two ...
. He was elected 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 ...
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 ...
, in the April 2016 parliamentary elections.
Park was a founding member of the left-wing Democratic Labor Party, standing unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate in the Gyeongbuk B constituency in 2000 and serving as the party's spokesman from 2004. He stayed with the DLP from its establishment in 2000 until 2008, when the party's pro–labor rights People's Democracy faction parted ways with the nationalist National Liberty faction. Park followed the PD group to the splinter New Progressive Party. He stood for the Assembly again as an NPP candidate in Gangbuk B in the parliamentary election that year, but was defeated a second time, garnering 11.8 percent of the vote.
In 2012, Park changed his affiliation again to the main liberal
Democratic United Party
The Democratic Party (DP; ), formerly the Democratic United Party (DUP; ) until 2013, was a Liberalism in South Korea, liberal political party in South Korea, and for the duration of its existence the country's main opposition force.
On 15 De ...
. He became head of public relations for the Democratic Party—as the DUP renamed itself—in 2014, but resigned following the 2014 by-elections, 30 days after assuming the office. He won Gangbuk B for the Minjoo Party, the Democratic Party's successor, in the 2016 elections. He will enter the National Assembly on 30 May 2016.
A labor advocate, Park has been imprisoned multiple times for his activism. He spent several months in prison after taking part in a
sympathy strike
Solidarity action (also known as secondary action, a secondary boycott, a solidarity strike, or a sympathy strike) is industrial action by a trade union in support of a strike initiated by workers in a separate corporation, but often the same en ...
with railway workers in 1994, and was imprisoned again after participating in protests against employee cutbacks at
Daewoo
Daewoo ( ; ; ; ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "''dae''" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerate) and aut ...
in 2001. He was eventually released in April 2003 after over two years in detention.
Born in
Jangsu County
Jangsu County () is a county in Jeonbuk State, South Korea. It is well known for Jangsu- Galbi.
Climate
Twin towns – sister cities
Jangsu is twinned with:
* Anyang, South Korea (1996)
* Hapcheon, South Korea (1999)
* Jinhae-gu, Sout ...
in
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 ...
, Park studied sociology at
Sungkyunkwan University
Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU or ''Seongdae'', ) is a private research university with campuses in Seoul and Suwon, South Korea.
The institution traces its origins to the historic Sungkyunkwan founded in 1398 in central Seoul.2022 presidential election. He lost the election to
Lee Jae-myung
Lee Jae-myung (; born ) is a South Korean politician and lawyer who has served as the 14th president of South Korea since 2025. Lee previously held office as the governor of Gyeonggi Province from 2018 to 2021, as the leader of the Democrati ...
who became the party's candidate for the 2022 presidential election.