Sim Sang-jung (born 20 February 1959) is a South Korean politician and labor rights activist. She was one of the five major presidential candidates in the

2017 South Korean presidential election Early presidential elections were held in South Korea on 9 May 2017 following the impeachment and removal of Park Geun-hye. The elections were conducted in a single round, on a first-past-the-post basis, and had originally been scheduled for 2 ...

, running as the Justice Party's nominee. She again ran as the Justice Party's nominee in the

2022 South Korean presidential election Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 9 March 2022. Under the South Korean constitution, presidents are restricted to a single five-year term, meaning that incumbent president Moon Jae-in was ineligible to run for a second term. ...

, finishing in 3rd place. She is currently a member of the 21st

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 ...

. She was the leader of the Justice Party from 2015 to 2017 and 2019 to 2020.

Education and early career

Sim obtained her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in education from

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the thr ...

. She switched degrees from history, with the aspiration to become a history teacher. At the age of 21, she worked at a cassette tape factory where her days as a

labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights in ...

activist began. Sim was subsequently fired for mobilizing workers to demand higher wages and better meals. She "hopped from job to job" to earn a wage but continued her labor activism. In 1985, she was on the country's most wanted list for instigating labor strikes. She was on the list for 9 years, and married her husband, a fellow activist, during that time. She was formally charged for 'instigation of mass harm' and 'instigation of arson', and was sentenced to 1.5 years imprisonment, but a 2-year suspended sentence, soon after she became pregnant.

Political career

Sim was first elected in 2004 in the 17th National Assembly as a member of the Democratic Labor Party. She won her first direct election in the 19th National Assembly as a member of the UPP with 49.37% of the votes in an area of

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

Goyang Goyang (''Goyang-si''; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Capital Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Capital Area, with a popula ...

in 2012. Following the disintegration of the Unified Progressive Party after the

Park Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (; ; often in English ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 to 2017, until she was impeached and convicted on related corruption charges. Park was the f ...

government's petition to the

Constitutional Court of Korea The Constitutional Court of Korea () is highest constitutional court in judicial branch of South Korea, seated in Jongno, Seoul. Established under Chapter 6 of the Constitution of South Korea, the Court has ultimate jurisdiction over judici ...

for the UPP's alleged pro-North Korean views in 2013, Sim helped found and is the current leader of the Justice Party. She was elected party chair in 2015. Sim won another seat in the 20th National Assembly in 2016, again in an area of Goyang with 53% of the vote. In the 2020 election, she defeated Moon Myung-soon from

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and Lee Kyung-hwan from now- PPP, becoming the first four-term parliamentarian from a progressive party in Korea.

Political positions and ideology

Economy

Her economic positions reflect the progressive platform of her party. This includes reforming '' chaebols'' (Korean conglomerates) so that hereditary succession is banned. Her key policy in the 2022 South Korean election was the proposal of a

four-day work week A four-day workweek is an arrangement where a workplace or place of education has its employees or students work or attend school, college or university over the course of four days per week rather than the more customary five. This arrangement ...

, which has been described as "a revolutionary idea in a country where workers endure notoriously long hours".

Social issues

Sim was the only major presidential candidate to openly support LGBT rights in South Korea.

National security

Sim opposes the deployment of

THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), formerly Theater High Altitude Area Defense, is an American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to shoot down short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal ...

, a U.S. anti ballistics missile defense system, and supports a nuclear-free

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

Feminism

Sim self-identifies as a feminist. She has said that, "Sexism clearly exists in South Korean society". Polling in the 2022 South Korean presidential election suggested her strongest support came from women in their 20s.

Vladimir Tikhonov Vladimir Ilyich Tikhonov (russian: Владимир Ильич Тихонов; born 4 February 1947) is a Russian politician and has been a leading member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Tikhonov served as the manager of the Ru ...

, professor of Korean studies at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top univers ...

has said that some younger women consider her a hero for what he describes as being able to "articulate the

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countr ...

agenda".

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sim, Sang-jung 1959 births Living people Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Seoul National University alumni South Korean LGBT rights activists Liberalism in South Korea People from Gyeonggi Province Anti-nuclear activists Democratic Labor Party (South Korea) politicians New Progressive Party (South Korea) politicians South Korean social democrats South Korean feminists South Korean progressives Justice Party (South Korea) politicians Justice Party (South Korea) Workers' rights activists Female members of the National Assembly (South Korea)