Suh Chung-won (

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 ** ...

: 서청원;

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

: 徐淸源; born 3 April 1943) is a South Korean politician who served as 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 rep ...

for eight terms(1981-1985, 1988-2004, 2013–2020) and

floor Leader In politics, floor leaders, also known as a caucus leader, are leaders of their respective political party in a body of a legislature. Philippines In the Philippines each body of the bicameral Congress has a majority floor leader and a minor ...

of the Our Republican Party. Suh has been in the

for 32 years, being second most-elected member.

Early life and education

Suh was born in

South Chungcheong Province South Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청남도, ''Chungcheongnam-do''), also known as Chungnam, is a province of South Korea. South Chungcheong has a population of 2,059,871 (2014) and has a geographic area of 8,204 km2 (3,168 sq mi) located in ...

Japanese Korea Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offic ...

on April 3, 1943. He graduated from

Chungang 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, ...

with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

. He actively took part in the June 3 Resistance Movement in 1964. He served in

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 ...

's mandatory military conscription from December 1966 to October 1969; he served for 34 months in the

South Korean military The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength o ...

. After serving his time in the military, Suh worked as a reporter for the

Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations w ...

until 1980. During his time as a reporter, he reported from the front lines of the

Gwangju Uprising The Gwangju Uprising was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980, which pitted local, armed citizens against soldiers and police of the South Korean government. The event is sometimes called 5·18 (Ma ...

in 1980.

Political career

Representative of Dongjak-gu (1981-2004)

Suh ran for the Seoul 11th electoral district (now

Dongjak-gu Dongjak District (Dongjak-gu) is one of the 25 '' gu'' that make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Its name was derived from the Dongjaegi Naruteo Ferry, on the Han River which borders the district to the north. It was the 17th ''gu'' create ...

A) as a member of the

Democratic Korea Party The Democratic Korea Party (, DKP) was a political party in South Korea. History The DKP was established on 17 January 1981 following a meeting of fourteen former members of the New Democratic Party on 22 November 1980.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Pol ...

in the

1981 South Korean legislative election Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 25 March 1981.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p420 The new electoral system for the National Assembly implemented a sys ...

. He was elected along with Cho Jong-ho of the ruling

Democratic Justice Party The Democratic Justice Party (; DJP) was the ruling party of South Korea from 1981 to 1988. History Chun had become the country's de facto leader after leading a military coup in December 1979, and was elected president in his own right in ...

. He ran for the same electoral district in 1985, however he wasn't elected. Suh ran for the

A electoral district as a member of the

Reunification Democratic Party The Reunification Democratic Party (, RDP) was a political party of South Korea from 1987 to 1990. The party was established in April 1987 by Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam, splitting from the New Korean Democratic Party. The party faced anothe ...

in 1988 and was elected. Since his election in 1988, Suh continuously won until 2004. He was ineligible to participate in the

2004 South Korean legislative election Legislative elections were held in South Korea on April 15, 2004. In the 17th election for the National Assembly, voters elected 299 members of the legislature. The newly formed Uri Party and other parties supporting President Roh Moo-hyun, wh ...

and

2008 South Korean legislative election Legislative elections were held in South Korea on April 9, 2008. The conservative Grand National Party won 153 of 299 seats while the main opposition United Democratic Party won 81 seats. This election marked the lowest-ever voter turnout of 4 ...

due to him receiving illegal funds for his campaign previously.

Pro-Park Geun-hye politician (2007-present)

He supported

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 ...

becoming the presidential nominee of 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 ...

national convention in 2007, however Lee Myung-bak was nominated. As a result, Suh created the Future Hope Alliance; a solely pro-

party in 2010 as his relations with pro- Lee Myung-bak members of the

deteriorated. Later, the Future Hope Alliance was absorbed back into 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 H ...

(formerly Grand National Party) in 2012. Suh ran for the Hwaseong A electoral district during by-elections in 2013 and was elected. Suh served as acting Speaker of the National Assembly until

Chung Sye-kyun Chung Sye-kyun () is a South Korean politician who has served as Speaker of the National Assembly from 2016 to 2018 and Prime Minister of South Korea from 2020 to 2021. He was previously leader of the main opposition Democratic Party between ...

was elected to the position. After 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 ...

in 2017, he remained pro-Park Geun-hye which made him unpopular with the anti-Park Geun-hye faction of

. He regularly participates in pro-Park rallies along with

Cho Won-jin Cho Won-jin (born 7 January 1959) is a South Korean conservative pro-Park Geun-hye politician who served as the break-away Saenuri Party's presidential candidate in the 2017 presidential election. He had been a member of the Liberty Korea Part ...

. He joined the

Liberty Republican Party Our Republican Party (; ORP) is a conservative and pro-Park Geun-hye party in South Korea. Originally founded as the Liberty Republican Party (Korean: 자유공화당), it has reverted to its original name shortly after Kim Moon-soo withdrew fro ...

on March 21, 2020 and became the Floor Leader of the party. He plans to run in the upcoming

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 a ...

Personal life

Suh married his wife Lee Seon-hwa in 1969. Together they have a son and a daughter.

References

External links

Suh Chung-won official profile (National Assembly of the Republic of Korea)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suh, Chung-won 1943 births Living people Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) South Korean journalists Chung-Ang University alumni People from South Chungcheong Province Government ministers of South Korea