Choi Gyung-hwan ( Korean: 최경환, born 28 July 1959) is a South Korean activist and politician. He is the Member of the National Assembly for

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

North 2nd constituency since 2016 and the President of the New Alternatives since 2020. Prior to these careers, he was the Presidential Secretary and the last aide for the ex- President of the Republic Kim Dae-jung.

Career

During the 1980s, Choi was once jailed for being involved in Hakrim incident and Youth Union for Pro-democracy Movement (aka Minchŏngryŏn) incident, in which the former was acquitted in 2015. He later served as the Presidential Secretary for Kim Dae-jung, as well as his aide. He is widely known as his last aide by serving the position till the death of the ex-President in 2009. Following the death of Kim, Choi has been working at Kim Dae-jung Peace Centre. Choi was brought into the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

and launched his bid for

North 2nd constituency in 2012, but lost to Lim Nae-hyun during the preselection. In 2016, he joined the People's Party (PP) and was elected as the MP. He proposed a bill named

Special Act on the Investigation of Facts Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Speci ...

that later passed the parliamentary votes. Choi once helped the party's ex-President Ahn Cheol-soo, ⁣ref name="ahn"> but due to the disagreement of Ahn's decision to merge with the Bareun Party, he quitted and joined the

Party for Democracy and Peace A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

(PDP) in 2018. In August, he launched his bid for the party's presidency but came behind of Chung Dong-young and Yu Sung-yup, made him as one of the Vice Presidents. In 2019, Choi and the party's dissidents left PDP and formed the New Alternatives. On 12 January 2020, he was elected as the newly-formed party's President.

Trivia

Choi Gyung-hwan has the same name with the former Deputy Prime Minister

Choi Kyoung-hwan Choi Kyoung-hwan (born June 22, 1955) is a South Korean politician who was a member of the National Assembly of South Korea in the Hannara Party. He represented the Gyeongsan-Cheongdo region of Gyeongsangbuk-do. Choi has promised to work for t ...

, though both are not related. Nevertheless, the name brought confusions, ⁣ref name="same"/> especially after the latter was involved in controversies. As an example, on 9 December 2016, when the former Deputy Prime Minister Choi was the only MP who abstained from the impeachment vote against the President Park Geun-hye, the former Presidential Secretary Choi was the one who received many protest messages.

Books

* ''

The Leadership of Kim Dae-jung ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (15 December 2010)

Election results

General elections

References

External links

Choi Gyung-hwan
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Choi Gyung-hwan
on Twitter {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Gyung-hwan 1959 births Living people South Korean politicians