Jeon Soon-ok (; born 1954) is a South Korean politician, educator, activist and writer. Her name also appears as Chun Soonok. The daughter of Yi So-sun, a labor activist, she began working in the textile industry as a machinist's assistant in 1971 at the age of sixteen. The previous year, her brother

Jeon Tae-il Jeon Tae-il (; 28 September 1948 – 13 November 1970) was a South Korean sewing worker and Human rights defender, workers' rights activist who committed suicide by Self-immolation, self-immolation at the age of 22 in protest at the poor working ...

had died after setting himself on fire to protest working conditions for female workers in the country's textile and garment industry. Eight years later, she joined the labor movement. Jeon studied labor and social studies at

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and went on to earn a master's degree in industrial relations and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in the sociology of labor studies from the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

. She became a research assistant at

Sungkonghoe University Sungkonghoe University is a private university in Seoul, South Korea. It was originally founded in 1914 by an Anglican Communion and became a comprehensive university in 1994. It is one of the most progressive universities in South Korea with an a ...

. Jeon also launched a non-profit organization which supports female workers. In 2003, she published ''They are not Machines: Korean Women Workers and Their Fight for Democratic Trade Unionism in the 1970s''. The words "They are not machines" are taken from her brother's dying words. In 2012, she was elected to the South Korean

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 ...

as a member of the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy.

References

1954 births Living people South Korean activists South Korean women activists Alumni of the University of Warwick 21st-century South Korean women politicians 21st-century South Korean politicians Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) New Progressive Party (South Korea) politicians Female members of the National Assembly (South Korea) {{SouthKorea-politician-stub