John Lim (born December 23, 1935) is a South Korean-born American politician from the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He has served in both houses of the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

and was the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Sena ...

Majority Leader in 1995. He has unsuccessfully run for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

and for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nomination for

Governor of Oregon The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...

Early life

Lim was born in

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, ...

Gyeonggi-do 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 ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. As an adolescent, Lim suffered from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

for five years, from which he nearly died. He was married in 1963 and graduated from Seoul Theological College in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion. He emigrated to the United States in 1966, penniless. When he first arrived in America, he had no resources and worked as a janitor. He later had plans to become a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

. He eventually decided against this, however, as it would have required him to abandon his Protestant heritage. As an adult, Lim started several businesses, including a house painting and gardening business, a vitamin distribution company, and a real estate business with his wife. He continued his theological studies at Western Evangelical Seminary at

George Fox University George Fox University is a private Christian university in Newberg, Oregon. Founded as a school for Quakers in 1891, it is now the largest private university in Oregon with more than 4,000 students combined between its main campus in Newberg, ...

, where he received his

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

(M.Div.) in 1970.

Political career

Lim was elected to the 11th district of the

in 1992. He served as

Majority Leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

in 1995 and was re-elected in 1996. In April 1999, while serving as chairman of the Trade & Economic Development committee, Lim famously proposed installing signs at the state lines reading, "You are welcome to visit Oregon, but please don't stay." The signs were intended to discourage visitors from moving to Oregon, to preserve the state's economic and ecologic infrastructure as well as general "quality of life." Lim was the Republican nominee for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, losing to incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden (; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United Stat ...

. Oregon's term limit law was still in effect at the conclusion of his second Senate term, so he left the Senate following the 1999 Legislative session. Lim was succeeded by fellow Republican

John Minnis John Minnis (born December 14, 1953) is a former Republican legislator and police officer in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was a member of both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, representing eastern Multnomah County. He and his wife Kar ...

. In 2004, Lim was elected

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

of District 50. He was re-elected to that office in 2006, serving in the

73rd Oregon Legislative Assembly The seventy-third Oregon Legislative Assembly was the Oregon Legislative Assembly (OLA)'s period from 2005 to 2006. (The Legislative Assembly is the legislative body of the U.S. state of Oregon, composed of the Oregon State Senate and the Oregon H ...

and the

74th Oregon Legislative Assembly The Seventy-fourth Oregon Legislative Assembly was the Oregon Legislative Assembly (OLA)'s period from 2007 to 2008. (The Legislative Assembly is the legislative body of the U.S. state of Oregon, composed of the Oregon State Senate and the Orego ...

. John Lim lost his bid for re-election to the Oregon House in the 2008 general election. Former police officer Greg Matthews, a

, took over representation of Oregon's 50th District in January 2009. Lim was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Oregon governor in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. He came in third out of nine, behind the primary winner

Chris Dudley Christen Guilford Dudley (born February 22, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player and politician. He played 886 games across 16 seasons in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, Portland Trail Blazers, New ...

and second-place finisher

Allen Alley Allen Alley (born August 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician from the State of Oregon. He sought the Republican nomination for Governor of Oregon in the 2016 Oregon gubernatorial special election, losing to Bud Pierce. Alley also ...

References

External links

Main page at State Legislature1999 High Country News storyMinutes of discussion of SB404
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, John 1935 births 21st-century American politicians American politicians of Korean descent Asian-American people in Oregon politics Living people Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Republican Party Oregon state senators People from Gyeonggi Province South Korean emigrants to the United States Janitors Asian conservatism in the United States