Lee Un-ju ( ko, 이언주; born 8 November 1972) is a South Korean lawyer and politician who served as 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

Gwangmyeong Gwangmyeong (; Korean: 광명시) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It borders Seoul to the east, north and northeast, Anyang to the southeast, Siheung to the southwest, and Bucheon to the northeast. Gwangmyeong is home to one of the ...

2nd constituency from 2012 to 2020. She formerly served as the deputy parliamentary leader of the

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 ...

in 2012 and the People's Party in 2017.

Biography

Born in

Yeongdo Yeongdo District is a '' gu'' in Busan, South Korea. The ''gu'' itself is limited to Yeong-do (''Yeong Island'') located on the south edge of central Busan. It attained the status of ''gu'' in 1957. The Korea Maritime and Ocean University and t ...

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, Lee grew up in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. She has a degree in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

, and passed the judicial examination in 1997. She was involved in several part-time jobs after her father's business went bankrupt during the economic crisis in 1997. Her mother died in 2011. During the 2000s, Lee worked as an entrepreneur at

S-Oil S-Oil Corporation (hangul:에쓰-오일) is a petroleum and refinery company, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was established in 1976 under its original name Iran-Korea petroleum company (hangul:한이석유). It produces petroleum, petro ...

and

Renault Samsung Motors Renault Korea Motors ( ko, 르노코리아자동차), is a South Korean car manufacturer headquartered in Busan where its single assembly site is also located, with additional facilities at Seoul (administration), Giheung (research and develop ...

Political career

In early 2012, Lee was brought into the Democratic Unionist Party (then 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 ...

) by its president,

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 ...

. She was nominated as an MP candidate for Gwangmyeong 2nd constituency, and defeated the incumbent Chun Jae-hui of the

Saenuri 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 Han ...

. She was re-elected to the same constituency in 2016. During the 2017 presidential election, Lee criticised Moon Jae-in, the presidential candidate for Democratic Party. On 6 April, she shifted to the People's Party and endorsed its candidate,

Ahn Cheol-soo Ahn Cheol-soo ( ; born 26 February 1962) is a South Korean politician, medical doctor, businessperson, and software entrepreneur. He currently serves as a member of the National Assembly as part of the conservative People Power Party. Prior ...

. At that time, the approval rate of Ahn was as high as Moon, after her endorsement by several anti-Moon politicians. Meanwhile, Ahn's approving then dropped and finished as 3rd (21.41%), approximately half of Moon. Lee unsuccessfully ran for the party president on 27 August. She supported the party's merger with the

Bareun Party The Bareun Party () was a conservative political party in South Korea, announced on 27 December 2016 with the defection of 29 anti-Park Saenuri Party lawmakers. It was known as the Conservative New Party for Reform until 8 January 2017. Histor ...

, and joined 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 ...

in the early 2018. In November 2018, sources reported that she would join 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 ...

. On 23 April 2019, Lee left Bareunmirae. In the 2020 election, Lee was nominated as the United Future candidate for Busan South 2nd constituency. However, she lost to the Democratic candidate and incumbent MP Park Jae-ho.

2021 Busan mayoral election

The resignation of the

Mayor of Busan The Mayor of Busan () is the head of the local government of Busan who is elected to a four-year term. List of mayors Appointed mayors (before 1995) From 1946 to 1995, the Mayor of Busan was appointed by the President of the Republic of Korea ...

Oh Keo-don Oh Keo-don (; born 28 October 1948) is a South Korean public servant and politician who served as mayor of Busan from 2018 until 2020. Life Oh Keo-don was born in Busan in 1948. After passing the Public Administration and Public Administration E ...

on 23 April 2020 following the allegations of sexual harassment has provoked the by-election in 2021. On 17 December 2020, Lee announced her intention to run for the Busan mayorship at Convention Hall of Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre (BEXCO). She cited a sexual harassment controversy related to the former Mayor Oh and indicated that the by-elections must be the "base" of the regime change. The following was her manifesto included in her declaration: * To combat the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

: ** 1 million

won Won may refer to: *The Korean won from 1902–1910 *South Korean won, the currency of the Republic of Korea *North Korean won, the currency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea * Won (Korean surname) * Won (Korean given name) * Won Buddhis ...

(≒ ￡640.50) monthly income per person ** Free self-test kits * Building a new airport (replacing the incumbent

Gimhae International Airport Gimhae International Airport (), commonly known as Gimhae Airport (formerly Kimhae International Airport) is located on the western end of Busan, South Korea. The name "Gimhae" comes from the nearby city of Gimhae. It opened in 1976. A new in ...

) in

Gadeok Island Gadeokdo is an island of Busan, South Korea. Gadeokdo is the largest island of Busan. It is connected to the mainland by the Gadeok Bridge and Nulchagyo Bridge. It is connected to Geojedo by the Busan-Geoje Fixed Link. The new airport is being ...

* Establishing a 'happy city for mothers and families' * Developing Busan as a maritime city * Administrative, social and cultural innovation Lee contested PPP preselection on 4 March 2021, but lost to the former MP for Suyeong

Park Hyung-joon Park Heong-joon (; born 19 January 1960) is a South Korean journalist, educator and politician. He was a former professor of the Sociology Department and Graduate School of International Studies at Dong-a University from 1 September 1991 to 1 ...

and the former Deputy Mayor Park Seong-hun.

Public orientation

Formerly, Lee positioned herself as a centrist. She is now considered part of the Korean

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

, supporting a

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...

, a stronger security policy, and holding a conservative outlook on issues such as immigration. However, she considers herself as

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Economy

Lee is a capitalist who supports market economy and opposes the increase of

minimum wages A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

and pro-labour policies. She criticised President Moon's economic policy as

socialism 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 ...

, and stated that "the US is enjoying prosperity due to capitalism". She does not oppose

economic democracy Economic democracy is a socioeconomic philosophy that proposes to shift decision-making power from corporate managers and corporate shareholders to a larger group of public stakeholders that includes workers, customers, suppliers, neighbour ...

but says that "leftists have ruined its original meaning". Lee was widely criticised after she called school canteen cooks as "cooking moms".

Immigration

Lee denounced the Yemeni

refugees on Jeju Island The Refugees on Jeju Island ( ko, 제주 예멘 난민) are less than 552 Yemen, Yemenis, mostly men, who traveled to South Korea as tourists, then claimed asylum on Jeju Island throughout 2016 to 2018. They are staying on the island under Refuge ...

as "impostors seeking jobs and money" and opposes them. She said, "South Korean conservatives must ensure the view towards immigration policy". She wants to reduce the number of foreign workers and mentioned that the government should prioritise locals. Lee also advocates for harsher policy for illegal immigrants.

Personal life

Lee is married to Choi Won-jae, a professor at

Kyung Hee University Kyung Hee University (abbreviated to KHU) (Hangul: 경희대학교; Hanja: 慶熙大學校) is a private research university in South Korea with campuses in Seoul and Suwon. Founded in 1949, it is widely regarded as one of the best universities i ...

. She gave birth to a son in 2009.

Election results

General elections

References

External links

Lee Un-ju
on

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on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Un-ju 1972 births Living people Right-wing populism in South Korea 21st-century South Korean women politicians 21st-century South Korean politicians South Korean women lawyers People from Busan