Cho Yoon-sun (born 22 July 1965) is a South Korean lawyer, writer and politician. She formerly served as the South Korean
Minister of Gender Equality and Family and later as its
Minister of Culture
A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...
, however she was later jailed after being convicted of abuse of power and coercion.
Life and career
Cho Yoon-sun was born on 22 July 1965 in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
. She attended
Sehwa Girls' High School, graduating in 1984, and then
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 three "S ...
where she received 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 International Relations in 1988. She later went to
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
where she received her
Master of Laws
A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
degree in 2001.
She passed the Korean bar in 1991, and joined the
Kim and Chang Law Firm where she became a partner.
During the 2002 South Korean presidential election she worked as a spokesperson for
Lee Choi-chang of the Grand National Party.
She left Kim & Chang in 2006 to work for
Citibank Korea where she became General Counsel and a managing director. She left Citibank Korea in 2008 when she was elected to the 18th
South Korean National Assembly
The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, often shortened to the National Assembly in domestic English-language media, is the unicameral national legislature of South Korea. Elections to the National Assembly are held every four years. T ...
.
In 2010, together with General Baek Sun-yeop, Cho helped establish the Korean War Memorial Foundation which supplies scholarships to the descendants of veterans of the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. Cho served as vice-chairperson of the foundation from July 2010 to March 2013.
Beginning in July 2010, she acted as a goodwill ambassador for the
Korea International Cooperation Agency
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA, Korean: 한국국제협력단, Hanja: 韓國國際協力團) was established in 1991 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea as a governmental organization for Official Development ...
(KOICA).
In 2013, she was appointed as South Korea's Minister of Gender Equality and Family.
In 2014, Cho left the ministry to become President
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 fi ...
's Senior Secretary for Political Affairs. However, she resigned that post in 2015 after failing to meet the president's goals for public employee pension reform. Cho then taught for a year at
Sungshin Women's University's College of Law.
In August 2016, President Park appointed Cho as the new
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
She resigned the post in January 2017.
Controversies
In both her confirmation hearings for Minister of Gender Equality and Family in 2013 and for Minister of Culture in 2016, Cho was taken to task for her lavish life-style and conspicuous consumption. In 2016 her profits from real estate speculation were also an issue.
In December 2016, as part of the continued investigation of corruption under President Park Geun-hye, the existence of a political blacklist of artists came to light. Cho was charged with helping to create the list, although she denied it. In January 2017, Cho was arrested on corruption and perjury charges, and she subsequently resigned as Minister of Culture. In February formal indictments were issued charging her with abuse of power, coercion and perjury. She is being represented by nine lawyers, including her attorney husband Park Seong-yeop (박성엽).
On 27 July 2017, Cho was convicted of perjury for lying about the blacklist to the National Assembly. The Seoul Central District Court suspended her prison term and released her from jail the same day.
On 23 January 2018, Cho was convicted of her role in drawing up plans to blacklist over 10,000 South Korean artists critical of President Park. She was arrested in the courtroom and was sentenced to two more years of prison in addition to the six months she served on the minor perjury charge from January to July 2017.
In August 2018, in a separate corruption case involving funds from the
National Intelligence Service, prosecutors asked the court to sentence Cho to serve six years in prison and to pay a fine of 100 million won ($90,000).
Writer
Cho writes about culture in South Korea. She has published two books, and regularly writes for magazine publication.
Among her works are the books ''Meeting Opera at an Arts Gallery'', which was chosen by the Ministry of Culture as the Cultural Book of the Year for 2008, and ''Culture is the Answer'' (2011).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cho, Yoon-sun
1965 births
Living people
Culture ministers of South Korea
Government ministers of South Korea
Haman Jo clan
Members of the National Assembly (South Korea)
20th-century South Korean lawyers
21st-century South Korean women politicians
21st-century South Korean politicians
South Korean women lawyers
South Korean women writers
South Korean politicians convicted of crimes
Women government ministers of South Korea
21st-century South Korean lawyers
Women's ministers
Female members of the National Assembly (South Korea)