Choung Byoung-gug (born 10 February 1958) is a South Korean politician and the former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He was the leader of the centre-right

Bareunmirae Party The Bareunmirae Party (), also known as the Bareun Mirae Party and Bareun Future Party, was a South Korean liberal-conservative political party. It was founded in 2018 by merger of the centrist liberal People's Party and the conservative Bareu ...

, and Chairman of the Special Committee on the 4th Industrial Revolution of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.

Early life and education

Choung was born on 10 February 1958 in

Yangpyeong Yangpyeong County (''Yangpyeong-gun'') is a county in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Climate Yangpyeong has a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen: ''Dwa'') with cold, dry winters and hot, rainy summers. Korean War Yangpye ...

Gyeonggi Province 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 ...

. He initially attended Gaegun Elementary School before transferring to Jeongdeok Elementary School 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 ...

against his father's will of making him stay in Yangpyeong. After graduating from Jeongdeok Elementary School in 1970, he graduated from Yongmoon Middle School in 1973 and Sorabol High School in 1977. In 1978, he enrolled in the Department of Sociology at

Sungkyunkwan University Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU or simply ''Seongdae'', Hangul: 성균관대학교; Hanja: 成均館大學校) is a private comprehensive research university in South Korea. The institution traces its origins to the historic Sungkyunkwan, founde ...

. Upon matriculation, he actively involved himself in student movements. He was wanted by the police for this reason and while he was evading the authorities in 1979, he received the news of the assassination of President

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

, to which he responded by returning to Seoul and heading the student movement to restore the National Student Council that had been dissolved under Park's dictatorship. Following the

Coup d'état of May Seventeenth The Coup d'état of May Seventeenth was a military coup d'état carried out in South Korea by General Chun Doo-hwan and Hanahoe that followed the Coup d'état of December Twelfth. On May 17, 1980, General Chun Doo-hwan forced the Cabinet to ext ...

in 1980, he was arrested by

Hanahoe Hanahoe ("Group of One") was an unofficial private group and Secret society of military officers in South Korea headed by Chun Doo-hwan, who later became the South Korean president during the Fifth Republic era. The society established on Kore ...

, headed by General

Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean Republic of Korea Army, army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected Political strongman, strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah ...

who forced him to choose between imprisonment and conscription. Choung chose conscription and volunteered for the

Republic of Korea Marine Corps The Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC; ko, 대한민국 해병대, Daehanminguk Haebyeongdae), also known as the ROK Marine Corps or ROK Marines, is the marine corps of South Korea. The ROKMC is a branch of the Republic of Korea Navy respo ...

. After being discharged, he graduated from Sungkyunkwan University in 1984 and actively involved himself in democratization movements. With warrants issued for his arrest, Choung ran Sein Publisher that supplied anti-government materials to student organizations of Seoul colleges, and enthusiastically supported resistance against the military government. He was subsequently arrested in June 1987 and was sentenced to eighteen months in prison. He was tortured by the Agency for National Security Planning, the forebearer of the

National Intelligence Service (South Korea) The National Intelligence Service (NIS; Korean: 국가정보원, 국정원) is the chief intelligence agency of South Korea. The agency was officially established in 1961 as the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA; Korean: 중앙정보� ...

, and was released upon the suspension of execution of his sentence following the

June 29 Declaration The June 29 Declaration (), officially titled the Special Declaration for Grand National Harmony and Progress Towards a Great Nation (), was a speech by Roh Tae-woo, presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Justice Party of South Korea, on ...

Career

Before 2000

Choung worked for

Kim Young-sam Kim Young-sam (; or ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015) was a Demographics of South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, he spent almost 30 year ...

's campaign as the Director of Public Affairs in the

1987 South Korean presidential election Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 16 December 1987. They marked the establishment of the Sixth Republic, as well as the end of the authoritarian rule that had prevailed in the country for all but one year since its founding in ...

. After the election, he served as Kim's secretary in the Reunification Democratic Party between 1988 and 1990, and as secretary in the Democratic Liberal Party (later

New Korea Party The New Korea Party (; NKP) was founded by the merging of Roh Tae-woo's Democratic Justice Party, Kim Young Sam's Reunification Democratic Party and Kim Jong-pil's New Democratic Republican Party to form the Democratic Liberal Party (; DLP). It ...

) between 1990 and 1992. With Kim's victory in the

1992 South Korean presidential election Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 18 December 1992, the second democratic presidential elections since the end of military rule in 1987. Voter turnout was 81.9%. In the first regular presidential election with no military candid ...

, he was appointed as staff member of the Office of the President at his age of 36, the youngest of any staff member in the

Blue House Cheong Wa Dae ( ko, 청와대; Hanja: ; ), also known as the Blue House, is a public park that formerly served as the executive office and official residence of the president of South Korea from 1948 to 2022. It is located in the Jongno distr ...

. During his time as staff member, he participated in the

International Visitor Leadership Program The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is a professional exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The mission of IVLP is to offer current and emerging international leader ...

run by the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

. He graduated from

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the "SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in the ...

's Graduate School of Public Administration in 1998.

After 2000

Choung won in the 2000 South Korean General Election for 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 ...

and was re-elected in 2004. That year, he received a Ph.D. in Political Science from Sungkyunkwan University. In 2007, he served as the Director of Public Affairs of the Grand National Party and served as its Secretary-General in 2010. He headed the

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) is a central government agency responsible for the areas of tourism, culture, art, religion, and sports. It has two vice ministers, three assistant ministers, one commission, and ...

following his appointment as Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism by President

Lee Myung-bak Lee Myung-bak (; ; ; born 19 December 1941) is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the 10th president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and the ma ...

in January 2011. During his time as Minister,

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

won its bid for the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

and

2018 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic ...

. Choung was elected for the fourth time in 2012 and was elected again for his fifth term in March 2016. He was one of the few Saenuri incumbents to avoid defeat in the party's disastrous performance in the said election. He is currently serving as Member of Parliament for the

and

Yeoju Yeoju () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Yeoju was a county but was raised to the status of a city in September 2013. Together with the neighboring city of Icheon, it is known as a major center of contemporary South Korean ceramics, ...

district. In June 2016, he announced his candidacy as Party Leader, but lost.

The Bareun Party

With the revelations of 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 political scandals that led to her impeachment, Choung and 33 other Saenuri Assemblymen exited the party. In January 2017, he and his colleagues founded the centre-right leaning

Bareun Party The Bareun Party () was a conservative political party in South Korea, announced on 27 December 2016 with the defection of 29 anti-Park Saenuri Party lawmakers. It was known as the Conservative New Party for Reform until 8 January 2017. Histor ...

. Choung was elected as its first Party Leader.

List of Positions Held

*Deputy Floor Whip of the

*Secretary-General of the

*Chairman of the Standing Committee on Culture, Sports, Tourism and Media of the

National Assembly (South Korea) 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 ...

*45th Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism *Chairman of the Special Committee on Regional Electoral Commitment of 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 Han ...

*Chairman of the Special Committee on Military Human Rights Improvement of the National Assembly *Chairman of the Special Committee on the 4th Industrial Revolution of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea
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References

{{Authority control 1958 births Living people Government ministers of South Korea Bareun Party politicians Conservatism in South Korea Republic of Korea Marine Corps personnel