Kim Woong (
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
: 김웅, born 5 May 1970) is a South Korean prosecutor and politician. A member of the
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
People Power Party (PPP), he is the incumbent
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 rep ...
for
Songpa 1st constituency since 2020.
He joined politics as a member of the
New Conservative Party New Conservative Party (or similar names) may refer to:
* New Conservative Party (UK), 1960–1962
* New Conservative Group, Australia, 1991–1992
* New Conservative Party (Japan), 2000–2003
* New Zealand Conservative Party, 1996-c.1998
* New C ...
(NCP), one of the predecessors to the PPP. Prior to entering politics, he was a vocal critic against the
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 ...
-led
Democratic government's prosecution politics.
Career
After qualifying for the
bar in 1997, Kim started his career at
Incheon District Prosecutor's Office in 2000.
He was appointed the Head of Future Planning and Criminal Policy at the
Supreme Prosecutors' Office by the former
Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the List of natural satellites, fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth ( ...
in July 2018.
When the
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 ...
-led Democratic government was considering an adjustment of investigation power between the police and the prosecution — removing the jurisdiction over investigation from the prosecution while providing a right to terminate an investigation to the police, Moon Moo-il harshly criticised it as "undemocratic".
Kim, who advocated Moon Moo-il's opinion, appeared on various media.
After Moon Moo-il was replaced by
Yoon Seok-youl, Kim was shunted off to a professor at the
Institute of Justice.
Not only him, but also some other critics.
On 13 January 2020, 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 rep ...
voted in favour of the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act, and the Public Prosecutor's Office Act; the votes were boycotted by the main opposition
Liberty Korea Party (LKP). Kim condemned the decision and submitted his resignation letter the following day.
He urged the other prosecutors to "disobey those feudal orders, we are democratic citizens."
Political career
On 4 February 2020, Kim joined the
New Conservative Party New Conservative Party (or similar names) may refer to:
* New Conservative Party (UK), 1960–1962
* New Conservative Group, Australia, 1991–1992
* New Conservative Party (Japan), 2000–2003
* New Zealand Conservative Party, 1996-c.1998
* New C ...
(NCP), a day after his resignation was accepted.
He was the first person brought into the party prior to the
2020 election.
The day, he said, "I'm good at cracking crooks. I will crack the crook cartel at the zenith of this Republic of Crooks."
He also mentioned that he is willing to cooperate with the LKP.
The party was soon merged into the
United Future Party
The People Power Party (; PPP), formerly known as the United Future Party (; UFP), is a conservative political party in South Korea. Controlling the South Korean presidency, it is the second largest party in the National Assembly. PPP, alon ...
(UFP). Kim requested the party that he wanted to contest for
Songpa 1st constituency, rather than as a
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
. He was subsequently confirmed as the UFP candidate for the constituency, after the then incumbent
Park In-sook decided to not seek for re-election. In the election, Kim successfully defeated the Democratic candidate
Cho Jai-hee, although his party suffered a crushing defeat. Among the 10 Suncheon-born MPs, Kim is the sole MP from the opposition, whereas 9 others are from the government.
Following the outright victory of the
People Power Party (PPP) in the
2021 by-elections, an opinion poll has shown that Kim is the 2nd most (11.3%) favourable candidate for the party presidency, next to
Joo Ho-young
Joo Ho-young (Korean: 주호영, born 8 January 1960) is a South Korean judge and politician who served as the interim Chairman of the conservative United Future Party (UFP)/ People Power Party (PPP) in May 2020, and again from 8 to 30 April 2 ...
(16.6%), prior to the
upcoming party leadership election.
Being a first-term MP, the outcome was described as "unexpected".
Several sources have suggested possibilities he will form an alliance with
Kim Chong-in and
Lee Jun-seok
Jun-seok Andy Lee (; born 31 March 1985) is a South Korean politician who served as party leader of the conservative People Power Party.
Lee entered politics as a relatively young member of the Park Geun-hye presidential administration, d ...
. On 13 May, Kim officially made an announcement to run for the party leadership election. However, he was eliminated on 28 May.
Personal life
Kim was born in
Suncheon,
South Jeolla
South Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollanam-do''; ), also known as Jeonnam, is a province of South Korea. South Jeolla has a population of 1,902,324 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Honam region at the southwestern tip of the Korea ...
in 1970.
He attended
Suncheon High School, and then studied politics at
Seoul National University.
He has an acquaintance with the former interim President of the Democratic Party
Kim Tae-nyeon, who is a senior graduated from same high school.
He is the author of ''Diary of a Prosecutor'', which was
remade as a drama aired on
JTBC
JTBC (shortened from ''Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company'' (; stylized as jtbc) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on 1 December 2011. JTB ...
.
He was exempted from the
national service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
for undergoing a
lobectomy
Lobectomy means ''surgical excision of a lobe''. This may refer to a lobe of the lung (also simply called a lobectomy), a lobe of the thyroid ( hemithyroidectomy), a lobe of the brain (as in anterior temporal lobectomy), or a lobe of the liver ...
.
He is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
.
Election results
General elections
References
External links
Kim Woongon
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Woong
1970 births
Living people
South Korean politicians
South Korean prosecutors