Chun Jung-bae (; born 12 December 1954) is a South Korean politician who was the joint chairman of the People's Party, alongside

Ahn Cheol-soo Ahn Cheol-soo ( ; born 26 February 1962) is a South Korean politician, medical doctor, businessperson, and software entrepreneur. He currently serves as a member of the National Assembly as part of the conservative People Power Party. Prior ...

. He is 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 repre ...

for Seo District in

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 ...

since 2015, having previously represented

Ansan Ansan (Hangeul: , ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies southwest of Seoul and is part of the Seoul National Capital Area. It is connected to Seoul by rail via Seoul Subway Line 4. It is situated on the Yellow Sea coast and so ...

from 1996 to 2012. He served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

from 2005 to 2006 under President

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (; ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea between 2003 and 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

. Chun was credited with securing Roh's victory in the 2002 presidential election and, as

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 Roh's

Uri Party The Yeollin Uri Party (), generally abbreviated to Uri Party (), was the ruling political party in South Korea from 2003–2007. It had a liberal political ideology in order to support then President Roh Moo-hyun. Chung Sye Kyun was the last le ...

, the party's subsequent majority in the 2004 legislative election. In 2007, Chun defected from the Uri Party to the

United New Democratic Party The Grand Unified Democratic New Party (; GUDNP) was a political party of South Korea. It was formed out of the Uri Party and its resulting splinter groups. Chung Dong-young was the UNDP candidate in the 2007 South Korean presidential election; ...

after entering into conflict with other members of the pro-Roh group, including then-presidential chief of staff

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...

. After standing unsuccessfully for a seat in Seoul in the 2012 elections for the

Democratic United Party The Democratic Party (; DP), formerly the Democratic United Party (; DUP) until 2013, was a liberal political party in South Korea, and for the duration of its existence the country's main opposition force. On 15 December 2011, the Democratic ...

, Chun organized the presidential nomination campaign of

Kim Doo-kwan Kim Doo-kwan ( ko, 김두관, RR: ''Gim Du-gwan'', Hanja: 金斗官; born 10 April 1959) is a South Korean Democratic United Party politician, former civil servant, and former governor of South Gyeongsang Province. He was elected governor in th ...

as an alternative candidate to Moon, who would become the party's nominee. Continuing to oppose Moon, by that time party leader, he left the DUP's successor the

New Politics Alliance for Democracy The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK; ), formerly known as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), is a Liberalism, liberal list of political parties in South Korea, political party in South Korea. Controlling the unicameral National Asse ...

in March 2015, citing the party's lack of reformist leadership. He ran as an independent that year in a by-election in Gwangju, commonly viewed as a stronghold of the main liberal party, and defeated the NPAD candidate in a shock landslide victory on April 29, returning to the Assembly. In September 2015, a number of NPAD lawmakers in contact with Chun defected from the party, triggering speculation over the formation of a new party; on September 19, Chun publicly announced that he would establish a new party in opposition to the NPAD. Chun established a new People's Reform Party, and joined forces with Ahn Cheol-soo in January 2016 to form the People's Party. In the lead-up to the 2016 parliamentary elections, however, Chun came into conflict with Ahn in March over the prospect of an electoral alliance with the Minjoo Party of Korea, the NPAD's successor; Chun vowed to boycott party meetings until Ahn withdrew from his opposition to such a pact. He backed down after a private meeting with Ahn on March 15, and the alliance with the Minjoo Party ultimately failed to materialize. On December 26, 2016, he declared that he will be running for President in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and will face his former co-leader Ahn.

References

1954 births Living people People's Party (South Korea, 2016) politicians Uri Party politicians Democratic Party (South Korea, 2000) politicians Justice ministers of South Korea Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) People from South Jeolla Province Yeongyang Cheon clan Seoul National University School of Law alumni {{SouthKorea-politician-stub