Lee In-young ( Korean: 이인영, born 28 June 1964) is a South Korean activist and politician who served as the

Minister of Unification The Ministry of Unification is an executive department of the South Korean government aimed at promoting Korean reunification. It was first established in 1969 as the ''National Unification Board'', under the rule of Park Chung-hee. It gained its ...

from 2020 to 9 May 2022. Prior to this, he was the parliamentary leader of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

from 2019 to 2020. He has been the

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 Guro 1st constituency from 2004 to 2008 and since 2012. Before entering to politics, he was the 1st President of the Association of National University Student Representatives, an

anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...

student organisation.

Early life

Lee was born in

Chungju Chungju (충주시) is a city in North Chungcheong province, South Korea. Uamsan is a mountain located within the outskirts of the city. The city is famous for the annual martial arts festival held in October. Also of note, former UN Secretary-G ...

, North Chungcheong in 1964. His father, Lee Moon-heum (died in 1988), was a primary school teacher. He was educated at Chungju High School and completed a bachelor's degree in

Korean language Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...

, as well as a master's degree in Information and Communications at

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

. He began to pay attention to politics during his university life, after joining a political event. In 1987, he was the President of Student Council, who led a protest as a part of

June Struggle The June Democratic Struggle (), also known as the June Democracy Movement and June Democratic Uprising, was a nationwide pro-democracy movement in South Korea that generated mass protests from June 10 to June 29, 1987. The demonstrations force ...

to achieve

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

for the President of the Republic. He was detained due to the breach of the National Security Act and jailed for a while. Soon, he was released and formed the Association of National University Student Representatives (ANUSR) in July. He subsequently became its President and served for a year. After this, he became the assistant administrator of the National Union for Nationalist Democratic Movement (NUNDM) and the organisation director of the National Alliance for Democracy and Ethnic Reunification (NADER). At the NUNDM, he met

Kim Geun-tae Kim Geun-tae (14 February 1947 – 30 December 2011) was a democracy activist and politician of the Republic of Korea. Life Kim was born in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do. He studied in Kyunggi High School and entered Seoul National University ...

, the policy director who later be the Chairman of the

Uri Party The Yeollin Uri Party (), generally abbreviated to Uri Party (), was the ruling political party in South Korea from 2003–2007. It had a liberal political ideology in order to support then President Roh Moo-hyun. Chung Sye Kyun was the last le ...

, as well as his wife, Lee Bo-eun. He then became the follower of Kim.

Political career

Lee was intended to start his political career in 1990, but promised with other members including Woo Sang-ho, served as the Vice President of the ANUSR under Lee, to not do it for 10 years in order to "not ruin the meaning of student movements". He, along with Woo, were brought to the

Millennium Democratic Party The Democratic Party (; DP) was a political party in South Korea. Formerly named Millennium Democratic Party (; MDP), it was renamed in May 6, 2005. After its dissolution, its members joined the Uri Party or the successor Democratic Party. Hi ...

(MDP) by Kim Dae-jung in 1999. He ran as the MP for Guro 1st constituency, but lost to Kim Ki-bae of 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 ...

(GNP). He could be elected in the 2004 election under the banner of the

, the splinter group of the MDP. For the first term as an MP, he was a member of Committee of Education and Public Administration and Security Committee of the National Assembly. He lost to Lee Beom-rae in the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...

, but continued his political career. In 2010, he ran as the party president of the

but lost to

Sohn Hak-kyu Sohn Hak-kyu (born 22 November 1947) is a South Korean politician and the former governor of Gyeonggi-do, the most populous province in Korea. He became a politician in 1996 as a congressman of Grand National Party, and became a governor of Gy ...

. Instead, he became one of the Vice Presidents. He also ran for the presidency of the newly-formed

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

, but lost to

Han Myung-sook Han Myeong-sook (born March 24, 1944; ko, 한명숙 ) was the Prime Minister of South Korea from April 2006 to March 2007. She is South Korea's first female prime minister (second female prime minister overall if the acting premiership of Chan ...

and elected as a Vice President. Lee came back as an MP in the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

and worked for Strategy and Finance Committee, Environment and Labour Committee and Gender Equality and Family Committee. He ran again for the presidency of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy in 2015, but came as 3rd and lost behind of Moon Jae-in and

Park Jie-won Park Jie-won(; born 5 June 1942) is a South Korean politician who served as Director of the National Intelligence Service. He was the chief presidential secretary to President Kim Dae-jung, and served as the Minister of Ministry of Culture, ...

. He was re-elected in 2016 election. On 21 April 2019, Lee declared to run as the parliamentary leader of the

. He was endorsed by National Alliance for Democracy and Peace, The Better Future and The Owls Group within the party. On 8 May, he gained 54 votes and defeated

Kim Tae-nyeon Kim Tae-nyeon (Korean: 김태년, born 20 March 1965) is a South Korean politician and former activist who previously served as the parliamentary leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). He was the acting President of the party from 9 Ma ...

who gained 37 votes and Roh Woong-rae gained 34 votes in the first round. Since no one gained the majority, Lee and Kim went to the second round in the same day, where Lee gained 76 votes and defeated Kim with 49 votes. Lee was immediately elected as the new parliamentary leader of the party, replacing the incumbent

Hong Young-pyo Hong Young-pyo (; born 30 April 1957) is a South Korean politician representing Incheon Bupyeong District at the National Assembly from 2009. Before entering politics He led the first labour strike of South Korean Chaebol in 1985. In 1982 he ...

. On 3 July 2020, Lee was nominated as the

, following the resignation of

Kim Yeon-chul Kim Yeon-chul (; born 26 March 1964) is a South Korean associate professor of unification at Inje University who served as Minister of Unification under President Moon Jae-in from April 2019 to June 2020. Before promoted to Minister, Kim was t ...

due to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

's destruction of the

Inter-Korean Liaison Office The Inter-Korean Liaison Office () was a joint liaison office of North Korea and South Korea located in North Korea's Kaesong Industrial Region. In the absence of formal diplomatic relations, the building functioned as a ''de facto'' embassy a ...

in June. He was officially appointed to the position on 27 July.

Political views

Ideologically, Lee is regarded as 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 ...

in Democrats. During an interview with Park Mi-sook of '' Moonthly Joongang'' on 17 April 2013, Park asked Lee that Democrats failed as it has moved to left. Lee replied: "Then should the Democratic Party be a conservative party?" He also added that there's no

centrism Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

in politics, by providing an example: "What is the centre between reducing and increasing the temporary employees?" However, during the parliamentary leader election campaign, he declared himself to move his position from left to centre.

Controversy

On 10 May 2019, shortly after being elected as the parliamentary leader, it was reported that Lee denounced civil servants along with Kim Soo-hyun, the policy director of 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 distri ...

. Lee mentioned by providing an example of the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MoLIT)

Kim Hyun-mee Kim Hyun-mee (Korean: 김현미; born September 20, 1967), also spelled Kim Hyun-mi or Kim Hyeon-mi, is a South Korean team handball player. She competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal with the South Korean team,

, which is that "they do weird things if there's no Minister". His remark was soon condemned by the trade union of the MoLIT, opposition politicians i.e. Jun Hee-kyung of the

Liberty Korea 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 ...

(LKP), Lee Jong-chul of the

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 ...

, Park Jie-won of the

Party for Democracy and Peace A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

(PDP) and the other civil servants. Prime Minister

Lee Nak-yeon Lee Nak-yon (; born 20 December 1952), also known as Lee Nak-yeon, is a South Korean politician who served as the 41st Prime Minister of South Korea from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Democratic Party of Korea, he is the longest-serving prime ...

also criticised the remark.

Election results

General elections

References

External links

Official Website

Lee In-young
on

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Lee In-young
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Lee In-young
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, In-young 1964 births Living people South Korean activists Korea University alumni Minjoo Party of Korea politicians People from Chungju