Lee Mi-kyung (

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 ** ...

: 이미경;

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: 李美卿; born 2 September 1950) is a South Korean politician and women's right activist previously served as the head of KOICA, Korea International Cooperation Agency under President

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 ...

from 2017 to 2020. She is the first woman to lead the Agency as well as one of four women who served five or more terms in 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 repre ...

. Before assuming the current role, Lee worked for roughly twenty years each at civil society and parliament. She revealed that her career as a feminist activist started when she participated in creating women's studies course at her university funded by

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

in 1977 during her speech at Global Engagement & Empowerment Forum on Sustainable Development in 2019. At the same occasion, she also praised the German aid organisation, EZE (now-EED, Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst) for providing financial assistance in founding women's organisation, now-Korean Women Link, in 1982. After serving as the first co-vice-chair and chair of now-Korean Women Link until 1986, she led

Korean Women's Associations United Korean Women's Associations United (KWAU or ''Yǒsǒng tanch'e yǒnhap'') is an umbrella organization made up of 33 other associations in order to focus on women's issues in South Korea. Along with the Korean National Council of Women (KNCW), KWAU h ...

as its vice president and chair for a decade. She also was high ranking member of

The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (commonly known as The Korean Council) is a Korean non-governmental organization advocating the rights of the surviving comfort women and lobbying the Japanese governme ...

from 1990 to 1996. From 1994 to 1995 she was the co-chair of Korean Women’s NGO Committee for Beijing World Conference on Women working with current Foreign Minister

Kang Kyung-wha Kang Kyung-wha (; born April 7, 1955) is a South Korean diplomat and politician who served as the first Foreign Minister of South Korea under President Moon Jae-in from 2017 to 2021 as well as the first woman nominated for and appointed to the ...

, then-its spokesperson. Lee first entered politics via proportional representation of conservative United Democratic Party, a preceding party of People Power Party. Due to her voting records, she was removed from her party and later joined liberal

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 ...

, a preceding party of

Democratic Party of Korea The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK; ), formerly known as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), is a liberal political party in South Korea. Controlling the unicameral National Assembly as of 2022, the DPK is regarded as one of two maj ...

. From 2000 to 2008 Lee took high-ranking role in her parties including the first secretary-general of

succeeded by then Assembly member

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 ...

. From 2012 to 2016 Lee was the co-president of

Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) is a global network of over 700 parliamentarians from more than 75 countries working to prevent nuclear proliferation. Membership is open to current members of legislatures and p ...

and chair of its Korean branch. After failed to be nominated to run for re-election in 2016 general election from her party, she took high-level role in Moon's presidential campaign in 2017. Lee graduated from

Ewha Girls' High School Ewha Girls' High School ( ko, 이화여자고등학교) is a private girls high school located in Jeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Although managed by the same foundation, it is not to be confused with the coeducational Ewha Womans Unive ...

and

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's university in Seoul founded in 1886 by Mary F. Scranton under Emperor Gojong. It was the first university founded in South Korea. Currently, Ewha is one of the world's largest female educational ins ...

where she earned her undergraduate degree in English language and literature and postgraduate degree in political science and diplomacy. From September 2016 to August 2017 she was the visiting professor at Graduate School of Policy Studies at her alma mater.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Mi-kyung Living people 1950 births People from Busan Ewha Womans University alumni Academic staff of Ewha Womans University South Korean women's rights activists Democratic Party of Korea politicians Uri Party politicians Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) South Korean government officials 21st-century South Korean women politicians 21st-century South Korean politicians 20th-century South Korean women politicians 20th-century South Korean politicians Female members of the National Assembly (South Korea)