Lee Baek-yun (
Korean: 이백윤, born 25 May 1977) is a
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n activist and
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
politician. He was the
Labour Party presidential candidate at the
2022 presidential election.
Career
Lee was born in 1977 and grew up in
Goheung
Goheung County (''Goheung-gun'') is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, county in Jeollanam-do Province, South Korea.
Naro Space Center
The Naro Space Center was completed during 2008 in southern Goheung and is operated by the state-run Ko ...
,
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 Korean ...
.
His father was a construction worker, and his mother used to work in various sectors, such as food caravan and restaurants.
As a secondary student, he read books about the
Gwangju Uprising
The Gwangju Uprising was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980, which pitted local, armed citizens against soldiers and police of the South Korean government. The event is sometimes called 5·18 (Ma ...
, which motivated him to be an activist.
After graduation, he attended
Chung-Ang University in 1996, where he studied
Korean but was expelled.
He led an
occupy movement
The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...
at the main building.
After finishing
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 l ...
, Lee did not return to university, but applied to Donghee Auto Co. Ltd., where
Kia Morning
The Kia Picanto is a city car that has been produced by the South Korean car manufacturer, Kia, since 2003. Other names of the car include Kia Morning ( ko, 기아 모닝, translit=Gia Moning) in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan (first two generati ...
was produced, in 2005.
As a temporary employee, he organised a trade union and fought for the rights of temporary workers.
He was, however, fired for not mentioning his university background on his
résumé
A résumé, sometimes spelled resume (or alternatively resumé), also called a curriculum vitae (CV), is a document created and used by a person to present their background, skills, and accomplishments. Résumés can be used for a variety of re ...
.
Another 21 employees that he worked with were also fired.
He launched a struggle against the company's decision to dismiss him and his colleagues (including
Park Yong-jin
Park Yong-jin (; born 17 April 1971) is a South Korean labor activist and politician in the liberal Minjoo Party of Korea. He was elected member of the National Assembly for Gangbuk, Seoul, in the April 2016 parliamentary elections.
Park wa ...
), which he claimed as "void".
He was arrested and jailed for a year.
After being released from prison, Lee joined the
Socialist Revolutionary Workers' Party
The Socialist Revolutionary Workers' Party was an unregistered political party in South Korea.
On 5 February 2022, the Socialist Revolutionary Worker's Party agreed to merge into the Labor Party in order to create a unified socialist party i ...
(SRWP), a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
unregistered political party.
He served as the SRWP
South Chungcheong chairman.
2022 presidential election
On 29 December 2021, Lee Baek-yun won
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
-SRWP unitary presidential primary, defeating Lee Gap-yong from the Labour Party. He became the Labour presidential candidate after the SRWP was merged into the Labour.
His slogan is "Should we keep living like this? If you want to change, SOCIALISM."
Election results
Presidential election
References
External links
Lee Baek-yunon
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Baek-yun
1977 births
Living people
South Korean politicians
South Korean activists
South Korean socialists